Cinderella
by asdf123150
Summary: Rosette is a princess. Chrono is a commoner. One day, Joshua throws three balls to celebrate Rosette's birthday. Chrono is persuaded to attend, but when the balls commence, things are not quite as they seem... RxC, and JxA. Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **As unfortunate as it may be, I do not own the characters of Chrono Crusade. Daisuke Moriyama does. *sobs*

Anyway... For all of you who haven't figured it out yet, it's a Cinderella-type version of Chrono Crusade! But there's a little twist... *snickers evilly* By the time you finish the part in Rosette's POV, you should figure it out.

Good day to you all and enjoy the story!

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><p><strong>CHRONO<strong>

It all started on a warm autumn day.

School hadn't started yet, and the leaves hadn't begun to fall yet, but it was cool enough that autumn had definitely begun. I was at home with my brother, Aion, and his creepy group of friends. There was Shader, a genius girl who was obsessed with cats; Fiore, a runaway maid that Aion took in; Rizelle, who adored spiders and worshipped my brother; Viede, who seemed invisible most of the time, despite his massive size; and Genai, the crazy, blood-thirsty teen who seemed rather fond of Rizelle. All in all, they were a band of freaks.

Not that I'd ever say that to their faces, of course.

On this particular day, they were lazing around in the kitchen, eating and drinking God knows what, when the doorbell rang.

"Chrono," Aion called lazily. "Get that, would you?"

I rolled my eyes and got up to open the door. A royal messenger was standing on the porch.

"Wha-"

"Good day, sir!" the man shouted, completely interrupting me. "It is my duty to announce that the Crown Prince has chosen to throw a ball in honor of his older sister's sixteenth birthday!" He all but thrust a piece of paper into my hands. "There will be three balls, in succession: One on Friday night, one on Saturday and a final one on Sunday. Each one will last from sundown to sunup. All teenage males are requested to attend; females are welcome."

"Wait-"

"Good day, sir, and I hope to see you at the ball!"

Then he was gone.

I stood there for a few minutes, staring at the place where he'd been standing, trying to make heads or tails of what he'd said.

"Hey... Chro-no! What's that?"

I was jolted back to reality when Aion tugged at the paper in my hands. "Oh, this? Not too sure." I passed him the page, which he began to read.

"Who was that person at the door, little brother?"

"Just some palace messenger or the other. Something about three balls for the princess." I walked back into the house and called over my shoulder, "If you need me for anything, I'll be up in my room!"

I didn't really believe that they were throwing a ball for a girl, and even if I did, so what? Not like I'd ever attend, anyway. Even if I wanted to, Aion and his gang would never let me. They'd go off themselves and leave me stuck at home, if only to laugh at me when they came back.

**ROSETTE**

"_No!_" I yelled. I was acting like a baby, but to be quite frank, I didn't really care. I was too horrified by something else.

"I am _not _going to that stupid ball of yours, brother!" I shouted. My brother was standing in my bedroom doorway, trying to appease me. It wasn't working.

A _ball? _As in, a ball with dancing, food, gowns, and tuxedoes? No thank you. Now, if it was a dueling tournament or something, I'd understand. Maybe even a week-long hunt. But...

"Sister dear," my brother said with that overly patient voice that I oh-so-hated, "it's not one ball. It's three. For your birthday. And you _are_ going, whether you like it or not."

I poked my head up from under the covers and glared at him. "Oh, yeah? What'll you do, hypnotize me? Knock me out, force me into a gown and then bring me to the stupid dance before I regain consciousness?"

He shut his eyes and put his hands together in prayer. "God, please help me convince my sister to do this _one little thing_ for me." He opened his eyes. "Just attend _one _of them, at least. Okay? You can even dress up as a country girl! As long as you attend, I'm happy."

I rolled my eyes and pulled the covers over my head again. "And when I _do _decide to attend, you're going to say, 'But please, sister dear, go as yourself! It's not polite to make those boys all come here, only for them to discover the princess isn't even here to dance with!' _No thank you. _I am _not _going, and that. Is. Final!"

"Joshua, is something the matter?"

Azmaria - my brother's girlfriend - swept into the room. Even now, after just having had gotten up, she looked beautiful. Her silver hair was just messy enough to look stylish, her red eyes were blinking tiredly, making her long eyelashes bat, and she wore a silk nightgown. I felt a slight pang of envy while staring at her.

_God, why couldn't you make me that beautiful? And she's my age, too!__ And a commoner! Oh, the injustice..._

"Oh, nothing, Azmaria," Joshua muttered. "Just Rosette being mule-headed as usual."

"Hey!" I bolted upright and full-out glared at my brother. "I am _not _mule-headed! I'm just stubborn, that's all!"

"Oh." Azmaria smiled with understanding. "Rosette, you don't want to attend the balls?"

"Of course not!" I yelled. I crossed my arms over my chest, uncaring of how childish it seemed. "All those dresses, and the dances..." I shuddered. "And those high-heeled shoes that I'll have to wear. They're so painful! And then there will be all those boys fawning over me, trying to win my affections so that they can marry me or date me or whatever to become famous and rich... No, thank you. I'd rather not."

Azmaria smiled gently at me. "Rosette, it's perfectly fine to dislike all those things. Still, you must get used to them. When your brother inherits the crown, as his sister, you will have to attend many social events such as this one." Suddenly, she clapped her hands gleefully. "I know! I've come up with a wonderful idea!"

"What is it?" Joshua and I demanded simultaneously.

She pointed at me excitedly. "Rosette! You don't want to wear high heels or gowns, or have boys fawn over you, right?" I barely had enough time to nod before she moved on to Joshua. "And you want your sister to attend no matter what. So, why don't you compromise?"

I stared at her. I'm pretty sure Joshua was staring at her, too. There was a long pause.

_"Huh?"_

"Compromise? I think that's kind of impossible," Joshua added. "How exactly do you expect us to compromise on this?"

She grinned. "Well... Rosette, you're going to love this. This is what'll happen: You two switch places for the first half of the ball, up until midnight. Rosette goes as Joshua and Joshua goes as Rosette."

When we both opened our mouths to say something, she held up a hand. "Just listen. After midnight, you guys excuse yourselves, go to your rooms, dress up as yourselves, and stay like that until the end of each ball." She beamed at us. "Rosette gets to go to the ball and meet boys, and she also gets to do whatever she wants! Good idea, huh?"

The only response they gave was stares. It was a while before Joshua said, "Okay. Doesn't sound like a bad idea. Just one question, though: Why do I have to dress up as a girl?"

"Obviously, since Rosette's being you, somebody has to be Rosette!" Azmaria said innocently. "Even if I'm her, you've got to attend the ball, too, and then somebody has to be me anyways. So, either way, you're attending as a girl."

"Oh yeah!" I yelled. "I'm dressing as a boy and I get to see Joshua in a dress! Great job, Azmaria! I will worship you forever!"

"Oh, just a ball gown will be quite enough thanks," Azmaria replied as she walked to the door. "Now. Joshua, I've still got to discuss something with you. The flower arranger came and..."

The two of them walked out, still talking about plans for the ball.

I flopped back in bed and stared up at the ceiling.

"Cross-dress as my brother, huh?" I murmured. "Wonder how that'll go?"

**CHRONO**

"Chrono!"

I turned around and smiled when I saw who it was: My cousin, Mary Magdalene. "Hey, Mary," I called. "Come in."

She stepped through the doorway with her usual happy expression on her face. "Chrono! You heard about the balls, right?"

I snorted and leaned back in my chair. "Of course I have," I retorted. "Aion made me answer the door when the messenger came, just like always. Why do you mention them anyways?"

She beamed at me. "I'm going!" Her eyes stared off into the distance as she dreamily said, "I'm going to wear my new gown. It's sky-blue, with white lace on the sleeves and neck, and the embroidery on it is so nice..."

I rolled my eyes. "Is that all you came here to say?" I wanted to know. "Because if it is, I''m sorry, but I've got work to do."

She pouted. "Chrono, what're you wearing?" she demanded. "I'll coordinate my outfit with yours, and we'll go together! Okay?"

I stared at her. "Are you kidding me? No way I'm going to a ball! Forget it!"

"Don't forget, cousin dear," she told me, "it's three balls."

I rolled my eyes. "Three balls. Stand me corrected." I sighed. This wasn't really going anywhere. "Bottom line is, I'm not going. First of all, Aion and his buddies won't let me-"

"Oh, I can handle them, they're not a problem," she said instantly.

"-and second of all, I have nothing to wear-"

"I could fix that for you!" she said brightly. "I have a ton of clothes at home!"

"-and third and last of all, I do not _want _to go!" I snapped. "Okay?"

She jerked back as though I'd slapped her. Without warning, tears welled up in her eyes and her bottom lip began to tremble. "You..." She sniffed and continued in a trembling voice, "You really don't want to go?"

I hesitated. "Uh...no?"

She began to sob. "You're so mean, Chrono!" she wailed, tears running down her face. "Why won't you go to the balls? They're going to be so much fun! Chrono, you meeeaaanniiiiee!"

Uh-oh. She was crying really hard now. In a desperate attempt to cheer her up, I told her, "It's not that I don't want to go! Really, it isn't, Mary! I just don't have anything to wear, or any way to get there! Plus, Aion and his friends won't let me go. If I had clothes and transportation, and if Aion allowed it, I swear I'd go!"

Suddenly she was staring at me intently. "No joke?" she asked warningly. "If you had clothes, transportation, and permission, you'd really go?"

I held my hands up in surrender. "Yes, really!" I smiled at her warmly. "Promise."

"Okay then!" she said gleefully. "I'll come over on Friday with clothes and a carriage for you."

I stared at her, gaping in horror. What? She was seriously planning on taking me? "But... Aion won't..."

"Oh, leave Aion to me!" she replied cheerfully. "I'll bring him to his senses. I'll be here at seven thirty on Friday. Seven thirty _sharp_."

Oh no. What had I gotten myself into? "I seriously doubt that Aion will-"

"Are you doubting me, Chrono?" she asked with a hard look on her face. Instinctively, I gulped.

"N-No, Mary!" I rushed to say. "Not at all! Never!"

"Then be ready for me on Friday," she chirped, happy as ever. "And, Chrono, really - if you didn't want to go, you should've just said so! Even so, I'm glad - you went just to make me happy!"

She walked out with a grin on her face. I sighed in defeat and flopped onto my bed. How could I have forgotten her mischievousness and persuasive powers?

"I am never going to let her manipulate me ever again," I mumbled into my pillow. "Never."

Of course, that was what I said every time, wasn't it?

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><p><strong>AN**: Figured it out now, have you? Yep - Rosette is going to cross-dress! And if this is a RosettexChrono story, then, my friends, that means Chrono...?

I'm just going to let that sentence trail off for now.

Anyways - review, review, review! Go ahead and tell me my story sucks if you want. I'll just be plunged into eternal depression. Nothing too bad. I'll go through hell if that means getting reviews.

If you don't know where the review button is, it's right here:


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I just realized. Lots of my characters are very OOC (that means out of character, right?). Whoops...heh heh heh. Sorry.

Disclaimer: Daisuke Moriyama owns the wonderful characters of Chrono Crusade. Not me. It's so depressing...

**ROSETTE**

"Make sure the tuxedoes are black and white, okay?" I sweetly told the seamstress. Despite my best efforts, my voice shook ever-so-slightly and my lips trembled from the effort to keep from laughing. "And try not to make them too long either, okay? After all, you can't dance with too-long tuxedoes."

"Rosette," Joshua murmured into my ear. "Stop teasing the poor woman."

That was when all my self-control broke down entirely. I bent over and began to laugh my head off.

"So sorry," I heard Joshua apologize in the midst of my laughter. "I believe that she's feeling slightly feverish today. That accounts for her strange behavior."

"You want me to make six dresses and six tuxedoes?" the amazed woman demanded. "Three of each for each of you, and same designs, too?"

My brother offered her a kind and apologetic smile. "Yes. I'm sorry to ask so much of you, but-"

She waved his apology off. "I could care less about how much work I'm given," she informed him. "What I _do _want to know, though - why does the princess want tuxedoes? And why are you, the crown prince, going to be wearing three dresses?"

I stood up and wiped away my tears. "We're dressing up as each other for half of each ball," I told her somewhat breathlessly. "We're going to be switching places at midnight, so we need to be able to pass for each other fairly well. That's why we're going to have clothes that match the designs of the clothes the other person has."

I broke down laughing again when I saw the look on her face. Priceless! Absolutely priceless!

**CHRONO**

"Chroo-no!"

I cringed when I heard the light, feminine voice float up the stairs.

Oh, no. She was coming.

I frantically searched for somewhere to hide. The best place seemed to be my closet, so I dove in and did my best to conceal myself under the piles of clothing.

"Chrono! I've brought your clothing!"

I heard the door creak open and her footsteps stop. "Hmm. Where is he?"

I held my breath as I waited for her next words. "Oh, well. I'll just put away the clothes then."

_Not the closet, not the closet, not the-_

The door flew open and I stared up into Mary's startled face.

_-closet._

"Chrono!" she exclaimed. "There you are! What are you doing in there, naughty boy?"

I whimpered as she grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the confines of my closet. The safe, fashion-less confines of my closet.

"Here, Chrono!" she said giddily. "I brought a bunch of clothes that I think are in your size! Try them on!"

She shoved a bundle of fabric into my arms, then pulled out a folding screen from somewhere - where had she been hiding that? - set it up, and then shoved me behind it. "Hurry up and change!" she yelled. "Then come out so I can see how it looks!"

I sighed and shook out the clothes. No avoiding it now. "Jeez, why do I have to do this anyways?" I muttered to myself. "Oh, right. I almost forgot. I was stupid enough to fall for another one of her tricks."

I frowned as I sorted through the mess of silk, linen, and what looked like lace. Where was the top? Where were the sleeves, the pant legs, and the-

I squeezed my eyes shut. No. No way. She couldn't have.

I peeked at the outfit and immediately regretted it.

Oh, God. She couldn't seriously expect me to wear this thing, could she?

"Hurry up and put the dress on already, Chrono!" Mary yelled.

She was making me wear a dress.

**ROSETTE**

"Don't laugh," Joshua told me sternly.

I laughed. Of course I laughed. Why wouldn't I?

"You look...absolutely...lovely in a dress...Joshua!" I managed to get out in between guffaws and hoots and snorts and whatever noises I was making.

"Yes," he replied drily. "You look absolutely stunning in your tuxedo, sister dear. Completely. Wig and all."

I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked up at him. "Yes, brother. Your wig loopk absolutely..._gorgeous_ on you."

Then, of course, I started laughing again. I couldn't help it. My brother, in a dress, wearing high heels, and - to top it all off - wearing a golden blonde wig. He looked just like me, and at the same time, he was so obviously _not _me. It was amusing - very much so.

"Rosette, Joshua, are you two ready?" Azmaria swept into the room, wearing the gown I'd given her as a thank-you - blue pale enough to make her look like an angel, and lace and embroidery all over the place - looking as stunning as ever. She took one look at Joshua and her lips began to quiver.

"Come on, Azzy, not you too," my poor, tortured brother pleaded.

"I'm sorry," she said, and then she took a moment or two to compose herself. "Rosette, from now on, you are Joshua and you are going to flirt with all the girls and say that I have temporarily broken up with you because my gown wasn't fancy enough for my tastes."

"You wouldn't really do that, though," Joshua cut in.

"Yes, well, they don't know that." Azmaria dismissed his comment with a wave of her hand. "Joshua, you are now Rosette Christopher and you are going to flirt with the boys, complain about the ball, wearing a dress, having to wear high heeled shoes, and you are also going to gorge yourself like you're a pig."

"I don't eat that much!" I protested as my brother turned a little green.

"Okay, fine then. Don't eat that much, but still stuff yourself until you can hardly eat anymore. Rosette, you are going to try not to eat so much-"

"Do I have to?"

"-until you switch back to yourself. After that, you guys can do whatever you like."

"All right!" I clapped my hands and whooped. "Food, here I come!"

Joshua heaved a long-suffering sigh and covered his face with his hands. "What did I ever do to deserve such a crazy girlfriend and mulish sister?" he moaned.

"Hey, it could be worse," I comforted him.

"Yes," Azmaria agreed. "We could be crazy _and _mulish. Both of us."

"And maybe really cruel and abusive, too?"

Azmaria nodded. "Yes. Definitely. Don't forget hard-hearted, either."

My brother threw up his hands in defeat. "Fine - I give! I am perfectly happy with you two the way you are! Please do not change a bit!"

"Oh, we won't!" we chorused.

"Now - come on, you two, let's go to the ball."

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><p><strong>AN: **Wow, writing these author notes is surprisingly fun.

So. Um... Well, what to say? Don't you feel sorry for poor Joshua? And for Chrono, too... Is it just me, or am I putting the male characters in this fanfic completely at the mercy of the females? I think I am.

So! Please review, rate, criticize, comment, etc., etc., etc. the fanfic. Thank you very much and have a good time reading fanfics to your heart's content!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Aren't you excited to see what happens next? You are, aren't you? Don't deny it now - even I'm excited to see what happens. (No, I didn't really plan it out. Stupid of me, maybe, but it's more fun to type when you don't really know what's going to happen next.)

I should stop babbling now. Okay - on with the show!

Disclaimer: For the third time (or maybe more), Daisuke Moriyama is the rightful owner of Chrono Crusade and all its lovely characters. This will be my last time saying it. Hopefully.

**CHRONO**

There it was. The palace.

I gulped as I slowly walked up the steps. Clearly, I was late, because nobody else was going in. The dark sky was a pretty good indication of that, too, I guess. I recalled the messenger's words from a few days ago: _The balls will last from sunup to sundown. _Or something along those lines.

I was very late and very nervous. And very much not wanting to be here.

"You're coming to the ball? This late?" The man standing by the door gave me a slightly - okay, more than slightly - disbelieving look.

"Yes." I fidgeted and tried to think of something to say. "It took a long time to get ready, and my cousin really wants me to go for her - her parents won't let her stay up late, and if I don't go and tell her about it..."

He nodded with understanding. "I know what you mean," he said sympathetically. "I have a sister, too. I know what they can be like."

"What?" My eyes widened. "Oh, no! She's not my sister, she's-"

"Anyways," he cut in, completely interrupting me, "I can introduce you if you like. Won't make much difference, since everyone's going to be staring at you anyways - so why not enter with dignity?"

I suppressed a sigh. Obviously, this person was just as - well, I guess manipulative or strong-minded would be good words - as Mary was. They would've made a good couple.

"So? Want me to do it?"

I snapped back to reality. "Huh?" What did he just say? "Uh...sure."

"Okay! What's your name?"

I stared at him dumbly. "My name?"

He sighed impatiently. "If you're going to be introduced, I need your name. What is it?"

I thought. Hadn't Mary said something about this? _Since you're going to be a girl at the balls, you'll need a fake name. How about..._

"Chrona," I whispered. "My name is Chrona."

He nodded. "Okay, follow me." He led me into the palace. We stood at the top of the stairwell as he waited for everyone's attention. When the people noticed we were standing there, they quieted down. As soon as the noise level had gotten low enough, he shouted, "Everyone! Please welcome Miss Chrona to the ball! Make her feel welcome and please accept her apology for arriving late and disturbing the ball. That is all."

My face burned as I slowly descended the stairs. I was starting to regret his offer - I could feel everybody's eyes on me as I stepped off the stairs. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see two people wearing much fancier clothing than the other people present. I turned to look at them; the one wearing a tiara - probably the princess - was speaking to the boy in hushed tones. The boy seemed to snarl something back at her, to which she calmly gave a reply. And then the prince stormed off.

All the others had started chatting and walking around by then, so it was hard to see where she was going at first, but as he walked further and further away from his sister, it began to dawn on me.

Me. He was walking to me.

_Oh, god. Somebody, please save me._

**ROSETTE**

"Everyone! Please welcome Miss Chrona to the ball! Make her feel welcome and please accept her apology for arriving late and disturbing the ball. That is all."

Like everyone else, I'd turned to stare at the newcomer. My chest panged with envy as I stared at this beautiful creature.

Why, oh why did I not look like that?

The girl - Chrona, was it? - has purple hair that cascaded down her back. As odd as the color was, somehow, it looked completely natural. She was tanned, just like pretty much every girl in the kingdom wanted to be, and she was _tiny. _Not only in terms of height, either. Her arms, waist, neck, pretty much every part of her I could see was slender. If she were the same age as Azmaria, she might've even rivalled her in beauty - and Azmaria herself looked like an angel sent down from heaven.

And her dress - her dress! Lace and ruffles and flounces and petticoats everywhere. At the same time, it didn't look at all overdone - it seemed elegant, otherwordly, ethereal. I myself adored the dress, and my definition of fashion was a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, so that was saying something.

"Rosette? Rosette!"

I snapped back to reality. "Yes? And it's Joshua, by the way."

My brother was watching me with an odd look on his face. "Finally interested in fashion, are you?" he said drily.

"Shut up!" I snapped. I was pretty sure my face was bright red with embarrassment. "What is it, Rosette?"

"Go talk to her."

I stared at my brother. "What?"

He repeated what he'd said, and then added, "And do try to be nice, Rosette. Remember, you're me. I don't want my reputation to be ruined."

I glared at him. "Oh, so your reputation's all that you're worried about, is it?"

He smiled at me angelically. I instantly knew that he had something wicked in mind. "Go talk to the girl, Rosette," he said softly. "Don't forget - if you don't, everyone will know something's up. After all, if I were dressed as myself, I would've instantly gone over to make the girl feel at home and less embarrassed. You wouldn't want to be discovered, now would you?"

I glared at him. "Oh, how I hate that brilliant mind of yours," I snarled at him. "Fine! I'm going!"

I stormed off in the direction of the girl. Everybody had started to walk around again, so it was difficult to catch a glimpse of her, but when I finally managed to, I could've sworn she was staring straight at me. I forced a smile onto my face and pushed my way to her.

Now that I could see her clearly, I could see she was even prettier than I'd thought - and her eyes were the oddest shade of red that, again, seemed to fit right in with the rest of her appearance. But... Something was off. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I felt like something was wrong. I searched my memory and figured that it was the same feeling I had when I saw my brother dressed up as me. Why did I get the same feeling when looking at this girl? I shrugged and dismissed it - _it's probably just nerves, _I told myself.

I was now standing face-to-face with the girl. She was at least half a head shorter than me - not as short as I'd thought. Her cheeks were stained crimson, and I immediately felt pity for her - it wasn't her fault that she'd been late, after all. So I smiled kindly at her and asked, "Are you okay?"

She blushed even more and looked down. "I'm fine," she murmured.

I had to say _something. _"Say, why were you late?"

Her eyes flitted up to me, then back down. "It took me a long time to get ready," she said softly.

My smile froze on my face and my voice held a bit of a chill as I said, "Oh, really? Took you too long to get into all your petticoats?"

She snorted. "Right on the mark," she said, with a slightly stronger voice than before. "Why I have to wear all these layers, I have no idea. I mean, this is a ball, right? It's not a sweating marathon. I'm lucky that my cousin didn't have enough time to put makeup on me - I'd rather die than wear that gunk on my face."

This time, when I smiled, I didn't have to fake it. "Finally, someone who thinks the same way as me!" I exclaimed. "It's stupid, really, how - _girls _have to wear so many layers!" Whoops, almost gave myself away there. "I mean, it's idiotic! And so impractical, too - how are they supposed to run in those? To ride? Or do anything but walk, sit and stand? I don't even see how someone can dance in those!"

She smiled. "I agree completely," she replied. "I'm Chrona. And you are...?"

I stared at her. Was she..._hitting _on me? No, I told myself. She just wants to be friends. She _has _to just want that. If she wants more than that...

No. I will not think about that. She wants to be friends, and that is that.

"I'm Joshua." I smiled back at her. It was a slightly nervous smile, but otherwise genuine. "Joshua Christopher."

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><p><strong>AN: **Ooh. Things are finally picking up, huh? Just a warning: The next chapter is going to overlap a bit on Rosette's final POV. Also, since I kind of rushed this one, there may (or may not) be a few errors in it, so if there are...just say, okay? Drop a comment or something - I'll fix it.

I'm actually pretty surprised with myself. I managed to finish this chapter in one day! Amazing! And it's actually more than a thousand words long!

Okay, so: Review, rate, comment, criticize, whatever else this story. Please. I'm begging you. Look, I'm down on my knees. *kneels on the floor* Pretty, pretty please drop a sentence or two - or even a word or two is fine! Just click on the button below and type something in, and I will be happy!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** I am _so _sorry if I do not update for a while. My very evil parents have taken away all of my computer privileges because, in their words: "You spend too much time on the computer! Focus on school! You've been working on your homework for two weeks now - when is it due? Practice piano! Your exam's coming up!"

Yeah.

I should stop babbling and just get on to the story, shouldn't I?

(I am squeezing this in between homework, by the way. Just in case you wanted to know.)

* * *

><p><strong>CHRONO<strong>

"Are you okay?"

I blushed and looked down. "I'm fine," I murmured. _Please, just go away already! _I mentally begged. The last thing I needed was a boy talking to me. Forget him being the prince - he was _male! _What if he tried to hit on me or something?

"Say, why were you late?" he asked, with a slightly curious expression on his face.

I racked my thoughts for something to say. At last, I came up with, "It...took me a long time to get ready."

"Oh, really? Took you too long to get into your petticoats or something?"

There was a bit of frost in that voice, but I dismissed it as I replied, "Right on the mark." My anger and annoyance welled up as I continued, way less shyly than before, "Why I have to wear all these layers, I have no idea. I mean, this is a ball, right? It's not a sweating marathon. I'm lucky that my cousin didn't have enough time to put makeup on me - I'd rather die than wear that gunk on my face." I shuddered at the thought of Mary and her box of makeup. I'd just barely managed to escape the torture. I was so caught up in the memory that it took me a while to notice that the prince was talking.

"...stupid, really, how girls have to wear so many layers! I mean, it's idiotic! And so impractical, too - how are they supposed to run in those? To ride? Or do anything but walk, sit and stand? I don't even see how someone can dance in those!"

I smiled. Now, _here _was someone who shared one of my beliefs! "I agree completely," I told him. Almost as an afterthought, I added, "I'm Chrona. And you are...?"

I momentarily regretted saying that. I'd only asked because it had seemed like a good idea for us to be friends, but what if he thought that I was romantically interested him or something? I breathed a sigh of relief when all he said was, "I'm Joshua. Joshua Christopher."

That was a close call. A very close call. Almost too close for my liking.

"Say, is there food here? I'm starving - didn't have time to eat, thanks to my idiotic cousin."

For a moment, I could've sworn that he looked depressed, but that moment passed as he gestured to the hall behind him and said, "There are tables piled with food over there. They've got everything. There are some servants walking around with snacks and stuff, too, just in case the guests get hungry in between dances or flirtations."

"Okay." I nodded. "See you around, then."

He nodded at me. "Yep. See you."

**ROSETTE**

I. Was. So. Freaking. Depressed.

_This is totally not fair! _I screamed mentally. _I want to eat! I want to eat! I want to gorge myself on bread rolls, the roast pig, candy apples, chocolate cake, and whatever delicacies the cook has prepared! It's my birthday ball - I should be allowed to eat as much as I want!_

But, no, instead, I was reduced to nibbling on a cracker that came from a servant's tray.

_I'm so hungry, _I moaned silently. I could almost feel the tears streaming down my cheeks. _I want to eat...I want to eat...I want to eat..._

The orchestra began to play right then. I could see everyone begin to dance in the midst of my suffering.

Wait.

Dancing?

_That means there's nobody at the food tables! Yippee！_

I cast a glance around me to make sure nobody was watching. When I was certain that everybody was focused on either their dancing partner or my brother, I turned and fled into the dining hall. The _empty _dining hall.

"Yes!" I yelled, uncaring of how loud I was. "Food!"

The servants just stared at me. I'm pretty sure that they were used to me and Joshua's oddities by then, so they didn't comment.

"Let's see...should I start with the pig? Or maybe the cake?"

I grabbed three plates and a fork and began to move down the aisle. Several times, I had to rush back and grab another plate because all the ones that I already had were overflowing with food.

"Okay!" I made my way over to the corner. I sat down with a thump and piled the multiple plates around me. "Time to dig in!"

"What are you doing?"

My head came up very slowly. Of course. Azmaria was standing above me.

"Hey, Azzy," I said in as innocent a voice as possible. "What're you doing here?"

She looked around, then leaned down and whispered furiously, "What are you doing, Rosette? You know that you're Joshua right now!"

I couldn't help it. I leaned back against the wall and whined, "But I'm starving! It's only ten o'clock! I'll never make it to midnight!"

"Well, next time, at least try to contain yourself a _little,_" she all but snarled at me. "It's bad enough that you can't act like your brother. It's even _worse _that you have to act like yourself in front of a guest!"

"Guest? What guest?" There wasn't anybody in the room, was there? I hadn't _seen _anybody, at least.

"Yes! A guest! Right there!" She grabbed my head and twisted it toward the table. That was when I noticed it.

A girl was huddled into a ball against the wall. If she moved just a _tad _bit to the side, then she would've been under the table. As it was, she almost completely blended into the dark blue tablecloth, especially her purple hair.

Wait...purple hair?

_Oh. Drat. Curses. This is not good. I am so screwed._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I actually have no idea where that last section came from. I did not think I was going to do a scene about Rosette gorging herself.

__Azmaria is pretty out of character, huh? Oh, well. Too late to change that.

Review. That is an order. I order all readers to review! Or else something bad will happen to you! Pretty hollow threat, I know, but still! REVIEW! (How many readers out there are super annoyed by how all fanfics basically tell you to review at the end? I kind of am.)


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** SO SORRY for not updating sooner. Here's a list of excuses: Parents. Homework. Very little computer access. No network on the crappy computer that was all I had access to. Mean sister who would not let me use her computer. Working parents (who would not let me use their computers.)

Yeah. Actually took me a long time to come up with that, believe it or not.

Well, I've wasted enough time already, giving you excuses rather than typing up my story, so let's get started now, shall we?

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><p><strong>CHRONO<strong>

_Oh, god._

Dresses. Tuxedos. Giggling girls. Men with too-loud voices and hungry eyes.

And all those million other things that there had been in the ballroom. And in the dining hall. And in the washroom.

And _everywhere._

How could anyone handle all that stuff? I felt like I was having a panic attack. There had been no place to go but this little corner. So I'd crawled over here and forced myself to breath calmly.

When the music started, everyone had started to leave - which was a relief. But now...

_Is there not a single goddamn place in this palace where I can just be alone?_

Evidently not. Joshua himself had come in not too long after everyone else left. As soon as I saw him come in, I buried my head in my arms and made myself as invisible as possible.

_Please don't notice me, please don't notice me, please don't notice me..._

I heard him yell something that sounded suspiciously like, "Yes! Food!" I heard a bunch of dishes clanging, something that sounded like food being picked up and put down, and - multiple times - porcelain or china colliding with either more porcelain or china, or landing on the ground. I heard a loud _thump, _as though somebody were sitting down, and then I heard a girl speak in a really soft voice, so soft I couldn't even tell what she was saying, just that she sounded mad.

Just when I thought that I was - thankfully - being well and truly ignored, I felt a tap on my arm.

"Uh...excuse me?"

I lifted my head. Naturally, it was the prince.

"Uh..." He scratched his neck. His face seemed unusually red. "Did you...see...any of that?"

"See what?"

He sighed in relief. "Nothing. Never mind."

"_Joshua!_" I looked past him and felt my eyes widen when I saw the girl standing behind him.

_Oh. My. God. She is beautiful._

Now, I wasn't really the type to discriminate based on looks or anything like that, but she was _really _good-looking, albeit a tad on the pale side.

I stared at her. And stared. And stared.

After a few long minutes of me staring and her being stared at, she walked up to me with a polite smile on her face.

"Hello. My name is Azmaria. And you are...?"

I stared at her and managed to say, "Uh, C-Chrona. Yeah. Chrona."

She laughed politely, completely aware of how speechless she was making me. "Hi, Chrona. What are you doing, hiding in here? A girl as lovely as you ought to be dancing with a boy somewhere, not hiding in the dining hall!"

"Uh...uh..." For some reason, I couldn't bring myself to utter a single coherent word.

"Ouch!" the prince snapped. "Quit it, Azzy!"

I turned my attention to him, glad for the distraction. "What?"

He flushed red. "Uh...nothing. Would you...like to go dance with me? Seeing as we've nothing better to do?"

My eyes widened and I bolted upright. "N-No! I mean... I...I can't dance!"

"Oh, it's fine," Azmaria told me with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Joshua here can dance really well, don't worry! Now - off you guys go!"

She all but shoved us into the ballroom. "Have a good time now, you guys!"

So we were left standing there, facing each other awkwardly as couples all around us danced.

**ROSETTE**

_What possessed me to ask her to dance?  
><em>

Easy. Azmaria's kick. Who would've thought that cute, innocent little Azmaria could kick so _hard? _I risked a glance back over my shoulder and, sure enough, she was still standing there. When she saw me look, she shot me a look that said, _Dance with the girl already!_

I gulped. While it _was _fun torturing my brother with her, it was another thing entirely when she turned her strong will - and very harmful kicks - onto me. If I didn't act fast, then I'd probably be lying in bed for a week.

"So! Let's...go...dance!"

I almost groaned when I heard myself talk. _Smooth, Rosette. Real smooth. Couldn't you come up with anything better to say?_

_"_Uh...I don't know how to dance," the girl - Chrona, was it? - muttered as she quickly looked away from me. She was blushing very faintly. "Sorry."

I shot another quick glance at Azmaria. The glare she was sending my way was warning me that, if I did not take action, _quickly, _I would very much regret it as soon as the ball was over. I gulped and turned back to Chrona.

"Don't be ridiculous! Come on!" In spite of the poor girl's protests, I grabbed her arm and dragged her onto the dance floor just as the orchestra started up another song - a waltz.

"Come on," I cooed as I began the steps that I knew oh-so-well. I'd practiced the guy's part in dances for an hour _straight _that morning, and I wasn't about to let all those extra lessons go to waste. "It's easy! Just follow my lead."

"Uh...uh..."

After a few minutes of dancing, I had to admit it: She _did _suck. She stepped forward at all the places she was supposed to step back, stood awkwardly whenever she had to twirl, and pretty much screwed up the entire dance. Oh, and let's not forget her stepping on my feet. It hurt. A _lot. _Felt like an anvil landing on my toes.

After getting stepped on _at least _six times per foot, I lost it. I glared at her and, right after she clomped her foot down on mine, I picked up my other foot and brought it crashing down onto hers.

"_Eep...!_"

Now, I'd been expecting for her to glare back. Storm off the dance floor and ignore me for the rest of both our lives, maybe. But what I did _not _expect was for her to shoot me an indignant look and then, very deliberately, lift her other foot and use it to stomp onto my toes.

Now it was my turn to squeak.

"Oh, sorry, Joshua," Chrona said to me with an absolutely angelic look on her face. It was so convincing that I might've actually forgiven her, had I not seen that one flicker of mischief in her eyes. "Did I hurt you?"

I grinned and replied, "Oh, no. It's all right."

Translation: _It's on._

The rest of the dance was composed of us stepping on each other's feet, squeaking whenever it was especially painful, and smothering snorts and giggles when a nearby couple shot us a dirty look.

**CHRONO**

I was a terrible dancer. Especially considering that the only two times I danced, I danced the man's part.

And now I was expected to dance the girl's part? With the prince?

I stepped on Joshua's feet multiple times. Once, I think I even saw him flinch from the pain. After my eighth time stepping on his right foot - yes, I'd actually counted - he lifted his head, glared at me, and smacked his foot down onto mine.

I squeaked.

That had most definitely _not _been an accident. If it was, then the most deliberate accident I'd ever seen. And it got my blood boiling.

So, as angrily as I could, I glared at him and stomped down onto his other foot.

I had to hide a smile of satisfaction when he let out a little squeak. "Oh, I'm sorry, Joshua," I said as innocently as I could. I tried to make my face as angelic-looking as possible. I don't think I succeeded. "Did I hurt you?"

I hid my grin when Joshua smirked at me and replied, "On, no. It's all right."

After all - everyone knows that, when someone says that with a sly smile, they actually mean _it's on._

For what seemed like hours afterward, we stepped on each other's feet so many time that I lost count and that I felt like my toes were going to be bruised when I woke up the next morning.

_Wait a minute...morning?_

I cast a swift look at the clock as soon as the dance ended. I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that I still had a good forty-five minutes left until I'd have to leave.

_Phew! _I thought. _Though I was a goner for a minute there!_

"You okay?"

I quickly straightened and flashed Joshua a smile. "I'm fine! Just slightly...out of breath from the dancing. That's all."

"Okay." To my relief, he dropped the topic. "Hey, are you hungry?"

"Oh, yes!" I nodded briskly. "Starving!"

I was, actually, to tell the truth. I hadn't eaten since a small snack in the afternoon, and earlier that evening, I hadn't had the opportunity to get any food. As if to prove my point, my stomach rumbled right then - loud enough that a few people nearby turned to look for the source of the noise.

I couldn't help it. I blushed.

Joshua laughed as he began pulling me to the dining room. "My, my, my," he teased. "You could've just _told _me how hungry you were! Didn't need to let your stomach rumble."

"Shut up," I told him.

He sighed as he picked up a plate. "How unlady-like, telling someone to shut up. And to let your stomach growl - in public! Oh, how far down society has dropped these days!"

I couldn't help but laugh at his poor imitation of a noble-bred lady. I straightened up and told him, in as brisk and severe a voice I could manage, "Young man! How impolite of you, calling a young woman unladylike! Why, I am simply _astonished _that your parents haven't beaten that attitude out of you by now!"

He laughed and told me, "Trust me, they've tried. Oh, how they've tried." He pointed at the plate that had somehow worked its way into my hands. "Hey. Aren't you going to fill that?"

I looked down at it. Then I looked at the table in front of me.

"Hold on a sec. I think I'm going to go get another plate."

He laughed. "Same with me!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Hahahahaha! Rosette and Chrono are dancing! And - of course - they're stepping on each other's feet. _Again._ Oh, terrible dancers _rule!_

So, yeah. Very very sorry for not updating sooner, please drop a comment/review, blah, blah, blah.

Until next time, pals! (Or not-so-pals!)


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **What to say, what to say, what to say?

I know: Let's just get on with the story already. (I'm not in a very talkative mood right now - homework. Ugh.)

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><p><strong>ROSETTE<strong>

_Huh. This girl is actually _fun _to hang out with._

I shook my head. What was I _talking _about? Geez! Next, I'd be saying that she was, like, my _soul mate _or something! What the heck was going on with me?

"Joshua! Joshua!"

I snapped to attention. "Huh? What?"

Chrona chuckled. "That's your fifth plate, you know."

I looked down at my food. "I know." Then, almost bragging, I told her, "Once, I ate three roasted chickens, one-and-a-half kilograms of salad, six loaves of bread and two pitchers of juice - all in one sitting!"

Her eyes widened. "Whoa. That is a _lot. _So you win a lot of eating contests?"

"Yeah. In fact, just the other day, I-"

I was interrupted by a very painful sensation in my shin. "_Ow!_"

I whirled around and bent over to clutch my leg, all in one motion. The person behind me was, of course...

...Azmaria.

"So, Joshua," she said to me in a very tense voice. "What was this about eating contests?"

Translation: _You're Joshua right now. Act like it. You're blowing your cover._

I gulped. "Uh...nothing." I turned back to Chrona and quickly told her, "The three chickens and stuff was an exaggeration. How much was it really, Azmaria?"

She smiled at me. "Half a loaf of bread and a whole turkey. And you almost puked afterward."

Translation: _Good job. Don't blow it again._

"Ah...yes. Right." I nodded. "That is what happened, isn't it."

"Yes. Oh - Chrona! How are you and Joshua getting along?"

Chrona jumped a bit when she found herself in the center of attention. "Uh...perfectly fine! Yep! Really well!"

I hid a grin. She was so _cute _when she was blushing like that!

And there I went again. "Cute"? "Blushing"? Was I falling victim to a rare disease that damages your brain cells or something? I'd _better _have been. Because there was only one alternative...

...and I didn't want that one to be the truth.

**CHRONO**

Who would've ever thought that it would be so fun to hang out with the prince? All this time, I'd thought he would just be a snob - a stuck-up, womanizing boy who'd be completely self-centered. And instead... Instead, he was actually _fun _to be with. That was just kind of _weird._

"Chrona!"

I looked up. "Huh? What?"

Joshua grinned. "You look so _flustered,_" he teased. "Poor little girl - feeling a bit nervous?"

I scowled at him. "What is it?"

His voice took on a more serious tone as he told me, "I've got to go for a minute or two, okay? Be right back - I promise!"

"Okay." I waved as he walked away from me. Then, by chance, I took a look at the clock.

_Oh my god. What? _

It was already almost midnight.

-0-

"Excuse me!" I yelled as I shoved my way through the crowd. "Coming through! Make way!"

There were multiple startled gasps and a few glares and snark comments as I ran by, but I ignored them all and kept running.

I sprinted up the steps and practically cried with relief when I saw that the carriage driver was still waiting for me there.

"Thank you, thank you, _thank you,_" I cried breathlessly as I climbed into the carriage. "_Thank you _for waiting for me!"

The driver shot me a mischievous look. "Now, I couldn't let that cousin of yours get away with torturing you this way, could I? Okay - let's go now!"

As we pulled out, I briefly wondered what Joshua would do when he found out I'd left earlier. Then I dismissed the thought from my mind. The most important thing at the moment was getting changed out of my dress before Aion and his croonies came home - that is to say, before they could laugh at me and snap photos for future blackmail and public humiliation.

**ROSETTE**

"She left, you know."

I turned and stared at Azmaria. "What?"

She stepped closer to me. "She left, you know. Chrona. Right after you went upstairs to change. She looked up at the clock, yelped a little, and then ran to the entrance." She offered, "If it helps, then you probably wouldn't have been able to talk to her anyway. Seeing as you're dressed as yourself now and all."

I looked down at myself and sighed. It was true. What had I been _thinking, _telling Chrona to wait for me?

Azmaria surveyed me for a minute, then haltingly said, "What - what do you...think of Chrona?"

I looked up at her. "What do you mean?"

Azmaria grimaced. "Nothing about her seemed..._off _to you?"

I thought for a few moments. "Other than the fact that she was _way _cuter than me and a horrible dancer? And that, unlike most girls, she actually agreed that all these petticoats and flounces are terribly inconvenient?"

"No. Other than that."

I shrugged. "Well, she seemed to hate the dance. That was a first. And she was actually _fun _to hang out with, unlike most other girls. But that's pretty much it."

Azmaria frowned. "I was probably just imagining it..." she muttered to herself.

"Imagining what?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, nothing. Just talking to myself. Now - Rosette." She pointed a hand meaningfully towards the dance floor. "Go. Flirt with boys. Dance. Remember?"

I sighed. "Yes, yes, yes," I muttered. I turned and began to walk, dragging my feet behind me, to the dance floor.

_And may the night of torture now begin,_ I thought miserably.

**CHRONO**

"_Chrono!_"

I winced as Mary threw herself onto me and squeezed me tight. As frail as she looked, she was _strong, _and the hug she gave me nearly suffocated me.

"Mary," I complained when she finally let go, "you know what we said about hugs!"

She ignored me and leaned forward eagerly. "Soo..." She watched me expectantly. "What happened?"

"Uh..." I felt my cheeks go bright red just as I lied, "Nothing. It was boring."

Just as I thought, Mary didn't fall for it. She smirked and nudged me a bit, whispering, "Come on, Chrono. Spill it! Spill the beans!"

Finally, I broke down and confessed about it all - Joshua, dancing with him, spending pretty much all of the ball with him, and then a few side notes about Azmaria.

When I finished my story, Mary leaned back with a content sigh. "Now, that's an amazing love story right there," she said dreamily. "A prince and a commoner, and forbidden love - my, oh my!"

"Wait a minute." I shook my head. "What do you mean, forbidden love? We're both-"

"_Chrono!_" she shrieked, cutting me off before I could finish my sentence. "You're _hair! _Oh, it's so _atrocious!_"

I stared at her blankly. My hair? What about my hair?

"It uncurled!" She glared at me. "How could you let that _happen, _Chrono?"

Before I could protest, she was behind me with a curling iron in her hand and plugged into the wall. "Now, hold still," she said briskly. "I can't _believe _that you let it straighten! My goodness!"

I sighed heavily and waited for her to finish it all up. Before the curling iron even heated up, she snapped, "Oh, it's no use! It'll be a waste of time and effort! Chrono! Sit up straight!" I immediately straightened my back. When she was angry, Mary sounded like a very strict schoolteacher. It was pretty terrifying. "I'll just braid it," she grumbled.

For a few minutes, the room was silent. The only sounds were our breaths and her hands moving through my hair.

Then she said, so softly I almost missed it, "You don't need to worry about both of you being boys, Chrono."

I fought the urge to turn around and stare at her. "What do you mean?" I asked incredulously.

"Oh, nothing." I could hear the grin in her voice as she added, "I have a hunch that things will all work out for the better.

"Mary, what do you-"

"All done!" she exclaimed, once again cutting me off. She came in front of me to survey her work. "Yep! Pretty good! Now, Chrono. _Do not _take that braid out until the ball tonight. Understand?"

Even though I already knew what she'd say, I complained, "Do I have to go today, too?"

"Yes," she replied. "Yes, you do."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I personally am not too sure about the whole Mary-freaking-out-over-Chrono's-hair part, but...whatevs. Fixing it now will be too tiring.

And...tee hee! Looks like the only ones who don't know that something's fishy are Chrono and Rosette! (And Joshua too, of course, but he doesn't count because A) he's male and B) he wasn't really included in this chapter.)

Dun duh-duh-duh...! The tension builds!

And now, ladies and gentlemen, do not forget to press the lovely button below and leave a comment!

Thank you for your time and, please - enjoy the show.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Oh. God. I just realized that Chrono/Chrona's hair wasn't curled during the ball.

I. Am. Such. A. Freaking. Idiot. (And I'm too lazy to go back and fix it, so it's going to stay like that.) Whoops-a-daisy...

Ah, well. What's done is done. Moving on to the next chapter now, which will cover a bit of Chrono's everyday life (since I feel like the wicked step-family hasn't really been featured enough, or even _at all _yet.)

* * *

><p><strong>CHRONO<strong>

"Oh, God, Chrono. What's that?"

I looked down and tugged my baseball cap a bit down over my eyes. "Uh..." I refused to look up and meet Aion's eyes. "It's...a braid. Mary did it for me."

Aion made a disgusted noise. "_Mary,_" he said with a sneer. "Of course it would be _Mary _who'd do that. What'll she do next, brother - dye your hair hot pink and parade you around the marketplace as her own pet poodle?"

I bit my lip and forced myself not to reply.

"Aion." Fiore walked in with her usual maid costume on, and with a blank expression on her face, just as always. "I brought you your coffee."

Aion turned to Fiore with a bright smile. I sighed with relief as he momentarily forgot about me. "Thanks, Fiore!" He sniffed the mug and added, "You even remembered the sugar this time." He sipped it and nodded in satisfaction.

"Thank you, my lord." Fiore curtsied and went over to the table, where she pulled out a chair for him. Aion sat down with it without a word of thanks to her. I stifled a groan. Why oh why did all these people think so highly of my annoying brother?

"Chrono, did Mary leave yet?"

I swallowed. "Uh..." Would it be better to lie or tell the truth? What a pointless question. Definitely the truth. "No, she hasn't."

Aion groaned. "Oh, God."

"Would you like me to go take care of her, Aion?" Genai offered. He cracked his knuckles and grinned. "I could...make sure she never comes back. If you know what I mean."

"Aww!" Shader whined as she petted one of the many stray cats that she carried everywhere. "Don't do that! My little kitty-cats don't like the smell of blood! Do you, my cutie little Tigress?" she cooed to a kitten that looked a lot like a miniature tiger. The kitten yawned in reply.

"Aion," Rizelle purred as she stretched herself out on the couch. "This room is just _filled _with dirty clothes. And I do believe that we haven't washed the dishes for a week. Why not make your brother do those chores for us?"

I stared at her. She wasn't serious, was she?

"That's a very good idea, Rizelle." Aion turned to me with a brightness in his eyes that I immediately recognized. "Chrono. Would you be of _some _use and go wash the clothes for us?"

I sighed and, without even answering, knelt down to begin picking up all the clothes.

"And make sure you do them by hand!" Shader giggled. "My wittle kitties won't like it if their clothes are all dirty, and their clothes simply won't go clean if they're put in a washing machine!"

"Yes," Aion said with a slow smile. "Do them all by hand, why don't you? I do believe that Shader's cats have shed hair all over all these clothes. That fur won't come off with the simple washing of a machine."

I continued to pick up the clothes, but my sigh of resignation told him exactly what he'd wanted to know.

His grin widened and he moved on to a topic that I'd been trying to avoid all day. "So, Chrono. How was the _ball?"_

"We didn't see you there," Shader commented as she scratched one of her cats under the chin. "Oh, yes, little Puffball - you like that, don't you? Viede - why don't you tell Chrono what we saw instead?"

"A girl who looks a lot like Chrono," Viede murmured. "Who called herself Chrona."

Aion turned to me with an enormous smirk on his face. I suddenly felt an urge to hit him right in the middle of that grin with a good right hook. "So, Chrono. What do you have to say?"

"I've got to go do the laundry," I blurted out. As I ran down to the laundry room, I could hear Aion and all his cronies - even Viede, astonishingly - roaring with laughter. It didn't help that I could tell I was blushing pretty brightly.

_Mary is going to pay for this, _I vowed as I dumped my armload of clothes into the sink. _Girl or not, cousin or not, manipulative or not - she is going to pay._

The worst part was that I knew I'd never succeed in getting my revenge.

**ROSETTE**

"Oh, God!" I groaned and flopped down onto my bed. "My feet _hurt!_" I yelled to the ceiling. "Hurt, hurt, _hurt!"_

"I _told _you to get used to wearing high heels," Azmaria chided as she swept into the room with Joshua right behind her. "But you insisted. And now you'll face the consequences."

I scowled at her. "Shut up," I growled. "Don't you have some kind of potion or stuff that'll fix them up? Because I feel like a herd of four-ton elephants have stampeded all over my feet! Multiple times. _Please, _Azmaria - _do something about it!"_

"Relax," she told me as she knelt next to my feet. "Joshua, you brought the hot water, right?"

Silence. Absolute silence.

"Joshua," Azmaria said, with a dangerous edge to her voice, "you brought the hot water. _Right?'_

"Uh..." My brother was in the process of looking everywhere but at her. I shot my brother a sympathetic look. I knew what it felt like to be the target of Azmaria's anger, and, to be quite honest, I felt bad for him. But at least it wasn't me.

"Joshua. Go to the kitchen and bring up some hot water. Not boiling, but hot. In a tub. And do it _without the help of any servants. _Go!"

He turned and ran out of the room.

"Honestly, that boy!" Azmaria sighed. "He never learns."

I grinned - only Azmaria would call my brother "that boy" - but then my smile disappeared as more needles of pain crawled all over my feet. "Ugh. How did you talk me into this?"

Azmaria smiled. "It was all your choice, Rosette. And your brother would've made you feel guilty if you skipped."

I winced. "True. But no more high heels."

She looked down at my feet, cringed, and agreed, "No more high heels."

Right then, Joshua came through the door, gasped, and dropped a bucket onto the floor. Water spilled all over my carpet.

"Uh..." He stared down at the puddle. "I got the water?" he offered with a tentative smile.

Azmaria looked at his sweating face. Then she stared down at the puddle of water. She shifted her gaze to the half-empty bucket, and then stared - pointedly - at the water splatters leading from the stairs to the room.

I didn't notice. I was too busy mourning over the loss of my carpet.

"Joshua!" I moaned. "Do you know how much the carpet cost me?"

He looked down at the said carpet and began to inch away from it. "Relax, Rosette. It's just water. It'll come-"

"No, it won't!" I wailed. "The seller specifically told me not to spill anything on it! The color washes out!"

Azmaria laid a cool hand on my arm. "Relax, Rosette," she ordered. "It could be worse. It could have spilled onto your bed."

I shuddered at the thought.

"Now, strong man - bring the bucket over here where your sister can actually put it to use."

Joshua looked down, pouted, and sulkily obliged.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Whoa! I can't believe I put this off for so long! Writer's block - what can I say? At least I _finally _finished it...

Now, allow me to parrot a few other fanfictions I've read:

_Be good readers and press the little review button. If you do, I'll give you a Internet-cookie!_

Get it? Cookie? Internet cookie? Cookies on your computer?

...yeah, never mind.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Ugh...so...freaking...hot...

Summer sucks big-time. It's, like, forty degrees outside. And I'm going to be stuck in a car for ten hours with at least four more people.

Yuck.

Anyway, hopefully this story is going to cheer me up while I write it so that I won't be_ too _depressed in that car...

* * *

><p><strong>CHRONO<strong>

"Toodles, Chrona!" Mary called out to me as the carriage drove away. "And don't worry about the prince! It'll all work out fine!"

"What?" I yelled back. She just waved to me cheerily and shouted something that I missed - probably something about the prince. I shrugged and turned to face the front again.

When we finally arrived at the palace, there was an enormous line of carriages lined up in front of the entrance. The driver parked his odd orange-colored carriage behind another one, midnight blue, with a pale girl exiting from it.

I blinked. "Azmaria?"

She turned at the sound of my voice. When she saw it was me, she smiled. "Hey! You're Chrona, right?"

"Uh...yes?"

She laughed and joined me on the stairs into the palace. "Don't worry," she said. "I don't bite."

I smiled hesitantly. When we reached the top of the stairs, I got an odd, prickly feeling, as though someone was staring at me. I turned to look at Azmaria, and sure enough, she was staring at me like I was a jigsaw puzzle she couldn't solve.

"Uh...what is it?"

She jumped a little and guiltily said, "Nothing. It's just...something about you looks odd."

I nodded and smiled, then turned away. What in the world was _that _supposed to mean?

"Chrona. _Chrona. _CHRONA!"

"Huh?" I snapped my head around and stared dumbly at Azmaria, who was standing in front of me with her hands on her hips.

"You're holding up the line!" she scolded as she grabbed my hand and began to pull me up the stairs.

Without thinking, I yanked my hand back.

"I... I..."

I ducked my head and rushed past her up the stairs. Hopefully she wouldn't see the dark red blush on my cheeks, which I couldn't get rid of - it was my first time holding hands with a girl, so of course I reacted strongly!

Behind me, I heard Azmaria finally rush up after me. To my relief, she didn't ask any questions. She spoke again when we entered the palace.

"Ro- Uh, Joshua's over there." She gestured towards the side, where I could already see a gaggle of dressed-up girls gathering around a single person dressed in black.

Prince Joshua. And boy, did he look nervous.

I began to make my way over to him, ignoring Azmaria's comment of "I'll go join Rosette now" as I pushed my way between girls dressed in hot pink and bright white and tons of other colors that made the group look like they'd been puked on by a rainbow.

Maybe too vivid of a description, but trust me, it was accurate.

**ROSETTE**

"Uh, hi...Amy? Anastasia?"

I smiled nervously and prayed that nobody would be able to see the sweat on the back of my neck.

These girls were nowhere near as fun to hang out with as Chrona had been yesterday.

I fought to keep from rolling my eyes as three girls in the crowd simultaneously burbled, "Oh, my, God, Joshy! You're, like, so freaking hot!"

Honestly. What had happened to originality?

I heard the girls begin to shriek and tumble - quite ungracefully, which I noted with amusement - as someone pushed through them.

My heart began to pound harder when I saw who it was.

"Sorry for being late," Chrona said breathlessly. She straightened and shoved a hank of hair out of her eyes. "My cousin..."

I grabbed her and began to tow her out of the crowd. "Thank you _so much _for coming," I whispered to her. I smiled at all the girls and nodded courteously as I passed, then turned back to Chrona and continued, "I thought I was going to die of boredom there! Who knew that girls could be so..."

I paused. I didn't want to insult myself, and I certainly didn't want to insult her! What if my only reprieve from all those dull girls left because of a careless word?

To my relief, she chuckled. "Don't worry, I know what you mean." She released my hand for a second, then said in a falsetto voice, "Joshua! You are, like, so _hot! _Add squeal for effect," she continued in a normal voice as she dropped her hands and began walking again. "Something along those lines, right?"

I laughed and followed her into the dining hall. "Not to mention all the, 'Hey, Joshua, want to go to the balcony for some..._privacy?_'" I dropped my voice into a low whisper and added a conspiratorial wink for extra effect. Chrona fought to hide her smirk, but it came out anyways.

"Ah, the beautiful maiden smiles." I froze with a smile on my face.

Beautiful maiden? Where the heck had that come from?

To my relief, Chrona took it as a joke. "Oh, what a dashing gentleman you are!" she teased. "Now, are we going to get some food, or-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Azmaria popped out of nowhere and chirped, "Hey, Chrona!" She wrapped her arms around Chrona's neck in a hug - although it looked a lot more like a choke hold than a hug.

Maybe it was just me, but I caught a little warning look from her that seemed to say, _Keep up your cover, or that's what it'll become_.

I knew her way too well.

"Hey, Ros- Joshua!"

Joshua - or _Rosette_ - peeked around Azmaria and waved at me. I shot him a glare, as if to say, _Why didn't you keep her away? _He shrugged helplessly, and I sighed.

My brother could be a real wimp sometimes.

**CHRONO**

Azmaria popped up out of nowhere and hugged me around the neck. "Hey, Chrona!" she chirped. Her arms tightened around my neck, and for a moment, I got the impression that I was being choked, rather than hugged.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw princess Rosette peek out from behind Azmaria and give Joshua a little wave. "Hey, Ros- Joshua!" she said.

Joshua shot her a glare - _what for?_ I wondered - and sighed. "Hey, Azmaria, sis," he said in what seemed to be a resigned voice. "You guys want to get some food with us?"

Rosette yelped after a moment of silence and squeaked out, "Yep! I'd just love some food! Lots and lots and lots of food! I'm starving! I'm always starving! I-"

"No, actually, why don't we all go and dance?" Azmaria cut in. She grabbed Joshua and Rosette's arms and pulled them toward the arch leading into the ballroom. "Come on! Let's go, guys!"

I trailed behind, catching little snippets of the conversation the three of them were having.

"-have to elbow me so-"

"-_such _a bad actor, Joshua-"

"-so _huunnngrrryyyy, Azzy-"_

"-blow your cover? Seriously, Rosette-"

"Um." They all paused and turned back to look at me. I flushed. "Maybe I should go. I feel like I'm intruding, so if you don't mind-"

"Oh, no!" Azmaria's eyes widened. "That's not necessary, Chrona! Here"-she all but threw Joshua at me-"why don't you two enjoy a lovely dance, and then Rosette and I will be on our way."

"Uh...no, you guys can-"

"Oh, please, I _insist._" She shoved Joshua bit closer to me, then leaned in and whispered something in his ear. After a moment, he nodded in grudging agreement.

"Well, let's dance, then, I guess." He didn't seem too pleased with the idea of spending a boring fifteen minutes on the dance floor. I wasn't, either. Dancing? Why not just make me listen to nails scratching on a chalk board instead? They're both equally torturesome.

"Uh, yeah, sure." Why was I agreeing? No, scratch that - why was I not protesting? I took one look at Azmaria's fierce eyes and instantly got the answer.

"Come on, Joshua, I think there's an open spot over there!" I said as I tugged him away, also saving myself from the horrors I was sure Azmaria would rain down upon us if we didn't do so. Immediately.

_Mary, I am going to do my best to make you regret forcing me to come to this ball._

**ROSETTE**

Well. Needless to say, I danced. I danced for a painfully twenty minutes as the damned orchestra - _note to self: bribe music players to play shorter songs from now on. WAAAAAY shorter songs - _played a jolly waltz by some ridiculous composer who probably thought that the longer the music, the better. And I don't think that any of them _ever _remembered how to flip a page. In fact, I strongly believe that the only reason they stopped playing at all was because their fingers and mouths got too tired to play for any longer.

Stupid dances.

The only good things were that, first of all, it was Chrona I was dancing with, which meant shared looks that said _oh God this is so boring please kill me right now._ The other good thing was that she'd improved - slightly - at dancing. Now, instead of always standing there when she was supposed to twirl or spin or whatever, she'd stand the for two brief seconds, then look around, realize what she was supposed to be doing, flush bright red and, with a small "eep", twirl or spin or whatever she was supposed to do. She still stepped on my feet, of course, and I on hers, but oh well. Better than facing Azmaria's wrath, by a long run.

Dance. Dance. Dance. Chrona and I even chatted about some stuff every once in a whIle, during the less frenzied part of the dance - apparently, the conductor had no sense of rhythm, either - but there was one dominant thought in my head.

Foooooooood.

I felt like a living, walking, talking zombie. I was starving. _Starving._

Oh, Azmaria, please take pity on me and let me go into the hall and eat the yummy yummmy yuuummmmyyyy yummy yumyumyum _fooooodd.__  
><em>

I didn't actually say it out loud, though. What I did do was send Azmaria desperate looks and glances throughout the course of the dance whenever she passed by with her partner, a middle-aged man with a walrus mustache and a humongous bald patch on top of his head. Instead of giving me a sympathetic nod, she'd just respond with an _I need to talk to you_ look or, occasionally, ignoring my glares altogether, an eye roll saying_ Can you believe your brother? So immature. _Joshy did look pretty miserable, standing on the side and staring after her with puppy-dog eyes, but so what. He hadn't been forced to go _three whole hours _without food. Nooo, instead he'd been allowed to gorge himself on yummy, buttery chicken, raisin-and-nut studded golden bread, roasted pig, barbecued ribs, and all the other, forbidden delicacies on the table in that room.

I think Chrona noticed my misery, because she whispered, "What's wrong, Joshua? Are you hungry or something?"

I gave her a glare and snapped, "What do you think? I haven't eaten in forever!"

Good thing the dance ended right then, because otherwise, I think I might've had to collapse on the ground for hunger. I ignored the startled look on Chrona's far and made a frantic dash to the dining hall.

Azmaria stopped me.

"I need to talk to you, Rosette," she said in a soft whisper. She looked around and frowned. "Come on, balcony. Now. I'll let you eat right after."

In all my eagerness to eat, I didn't even notice that she'd called me by my actual name.

"What's up?" I asked when we were finally alone on the balcony.

Azmaria had a thoughtful look on her face. "Did you notice the way Chrona was dancing? She kept stepping forward when she was supposed to step back, and she never spun - it almost seemed as if she was waiting for _you _to spin first - and, well, it just seemed almost as though..."

I was beginning to lose the tiny bit of patience I had left. "As though _what, _Azmaria? Spit it out!"

She looked at me for a moment or two. Then a tiny, mischievious grin appeared on her face. "Oh, it's nothing," she replied with a wave of her hand. "Just a thought. You can go ahead and eat now, Rosette."

I eagerly turned and sprinted through the dancing couples on the ballroom floor to get to the dining hall.

Stupid, stupid me. If I'd smartly chosen to wheedle Azmaria for answers, then everything would've turned out entirely differently. Instead, I just started to stuff myself with food.

Ah, well. Everything turned out well anyways, so what's the big deal? At least I got to _finally _taste some of that smoked ham before it all disappeared.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Blargh. I'd forgotten how exhausting fanfiction writing can be. And to top it all off, I had to write the end of this on my grandpa's iPad 'cuz my sister and parents were being cruel and keeping their laptops all to myself.

Never again, I say! I swear right now that I will never ever ever again use an iPad or anything even _remotely _touch-screen to type!

...not unless it's absolutely necessary, at least.

So, yeah. Yay, I finally managed to finish a chapter of one of my fanfictions! I sincerely hope I will get to finish all of these because I have just come up with another fanfiction idea. It's based on the manga _The World God Only Knows, The World Only God Knows,_ or whatever it's actually called.

Plus I've got this, my Present-Day Chrono Crusade fanfic, my Sisters grimm fanfic, another fanfiction I'm pretty sure I haven't published yet, about two more I'm writing out by hand to avoid boredom during school...

Enough of the depressing, pessimistic talk. Review, people! Criticize! Flame! I am probably one of the only fanfiction writers out on cyberspace that will actually accept flames, so fire away!

See what I did there? Flame? Fire? Ah ha ha ha...

...never mind.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Okay, yes, I realize that I'm not exactly the best at updating, but...eh. I'll do my best. I'd prefer not to make a schedule (sunday: wake up at 8:30 am. Type 30 min. Brush teeth. Dress...) because I just majorly hate schedules, but I swear I will do my absolute best to update regularly. Or at least once a month. Yeah. Goal of the year: Update all stories at least once per month.

Yeah, enough procrastinating. Time to get started!

* * *

><p><strong>CHRONO<strong>

Gee. Who'd've known anyone - even a guy - could eat so much?

In the space of fifteen minutes (the time it took me to finish a barbecue chicken leg, a ladleful of fried rice and two lamb ribs), he gobbled down four lamb ribs, three chicken breasts, one and a half turkey legs, a miniature mountain of barbecued chicken wings, three mounds of steamed _and _fried rice, half a plate of Caesar salad (at Azmaria's insistence), a huge piece of smoked ham, half a loaf of raisin-studded bread, half a roast pig, almost an entire chocolate cake (the cake _was _pitifully small, but...still), three slices of cherry pie, and a soup-bowl filled with French vanilla ice cream.

That guy was a mystery to me. Especially since, even after finishing all that, he _still _wanted to continue eating. The only reason Joshua didn't eat more was because: A) His sister, Rosette, scolded him, saying that it wasn't polite to finish all the food meant for the guests, and B) Azmaria threatened him with one of those little Azmaria-looks that look so vague but, at the same time, so menacing.

Just as I polished off a slice of chocolate cake, Joshua finally stopped eating.

"Ah," he sighed contentedly, leaning back in his chair. "That was _goood. _I'm going to give the chiefs a tip tomorrow."

I nodded absently, not really listening to what he was saying, and glanced up at the big clock at one end of the dining hall. My heart nearly stopped.

_Eleven fifty-seven. Already? How?_

"Uh, sorry!" I blurted out, bolting upright. "I...I have to go! Home! Now! Because I'm expected! Bye! You, know, my family's expecting me, so... Yeah! I'm leaving now!"

"What?" Azmaria looked at me in alarm. "But-" Then she looked past me and saw the time. "Oh. All right. Come tomorrow, okay?"

I didn't reply. I was already halfway out the door.

As I ran down the steps, I saw the carriage - which, for some absurd reason, looked almost exactly like an apple - with the driver sitting inside, glancing at his pocket watch and looking up at the doors worriedly. When I finally came into view, his face lit up.

"There you are!" he said when I fumbled my way into the carriage. "I was worried you wouldn't make it on time. Your cousin gave me orders this time, you know - one second past twelve and I had to leave, elsewise she wasn't gonna pay me."

"Yes, yes, yes," I panted. "Just drive!"

He obligingly cracked the whip. Two horse neighs and a few more whip-cracks later, I was on my way back home.

**ROSETTE**

"Aaah." I sighed and leaned back in my chair, happy - for now. "That was _good. _I'm going to give the chiefs a tip tomorrow."

Chrona nodded, looking around in a sort of absentminded way. She froze when she looked up at one end of the hall, and I almost felt tempted to ask, _What? Are you afraid of the dark or something? _because of how scared she looked.

Without warning, she jumped up and started stammering, "Sorry! I-I have to...go! Home! Now! Because! I'm expected! Bye, you know, my family's expecting me, so yeah, I'm leaving now!"

"What?" Azmaria shared a puzzled look with me. "But..." Then she looked in the same direction as Chrona had. "Oh. All right. Come tomorrow, okay?"

Either Chrona was too far away to hear, or she was too busy running to give Azzy an answer.

"What's up, Azzy?" I inquired, turning my head to look at the end of the dining hall. I didn't see anything except for people chatting and, in a few shadier corners, what looked like couples in lip-locks.

_Note to self: Tell chiefs to serve only juice and water tomorrow. No more alcohol for our guests._

"Look _up,_" she ordered as she shoved my chin up. I looked up.

Eleven fifty-nine.

"Oh."

"Oh," she agreed.

"_Oh._"

"What's up?" Joshua asked, sauntering up and looking absolutely ridiculous in his wig and gown.

Wordlessly, I pointed at the clock.

He looked.

"Oh."

"Oh."

"_Oh."_

_"Ohhh."  
><em>

"Yes, oh, oh, oh!" Azmaria snapped. "Hurry up and go upstairs, you two, and stop gawking at the clock like a bunch of primitive neanderthals!"

Me and Joshua looked at each other, grinned, and then turned back to Azmaria. Together, we chorused, "What those? Ar-ar-ar or gr-gr-gr?"

She scowled at us and flapped her hands to get us moving, almost managing to conceal the twitch at the corner of her mouth. "Go! Go!"

We burst out laughing - Azzy almost did, too, except she was much more skilled at controlling her facial features than we were - and ran upstairs.

Some taunts are just too tempting to ignore.

**CHRONO**

"Did you have fun?"

"Yup."

"Did you see the princess? And Azmaria? I heard they're both _gorgeous! _Were they?"

"Yup."

"How was the food? Top-of-the-line, I'm betting - and the wine?"

"Yup."

"And did you see any silk gowns there? What designs were there? I _so _want one! I'll ask Poppa for one tomorrow!"

"Yup."

"Chrono, are you even planning on answering any of my questions?"

"Yup."

Too late, I realized what she'd said. "Uh... uh... I mean, maybe?"

She sighed and finished wiping a bit of blush off my cheeks. "Honestly, Chrono. Sometimes, I even wonder why I'm doing this for you."

"Oh, I have no idea, either! So why don't you just stop making me go? That'll work out best for-"

She shot me an icy glare. "Don't be ridiculous. After my hours spent bargaining with your brother? You're going, like it or not."

I sighed and slumped back down in my seat. "I'm thinking definitely _not,_" I muttered.

"Oh, don't be so pessimistic," she advised as she walked around behind me and began yanking pins out of my hair.

"_Ow! _Mary!"

"Oh, don't be such a wussy," she told me as she yanked out another pin and a hank of hair along with it.

I squeaked.

"Anyways," she continued, pulling out pins and stripping me bald all at once, "how's your relationship with the prince? You say he likes eating? Did he eat today?"

Despite the pain, I smiled. "He sure did. He filled up and finished, like, fifteen plates in as many minutes. Pretty impressive. He probably could've won a ton of eating contests, if he'd wanted-_Ow! Mary!"_

"Sorry." She wove a bit of hair out of the clasp of the hair pin, then put it down. "Fifteen plates? How big?"

"About as big as your Turkey plate for Thanksgiving."

She continued with her task, silent and much less painfully than before. I didn't complain.

"What about dancing? Did he talk to other girls much?"

"Nope." Figuring this was a safe, hair-saving topic, I chatted, "He always complained about girls and how stupid it is that they're all the same, and how they're only after the crown they might get if he chooses to date them. He complained a lot about dresses, too - how stupid it is to have so many petticoats and tight bodices and corsets and all that. I totally agree with him on both counts."

I rattled on and on about things we'd talked about and things we'd done together as Mary finished undoing my hair. Not once did I turn and see the curious look on her face, or the set of her mouth that only ever showed up when she was thinking - hard - and plotting.

**ROSETTE**

"No way in _hell _are you guys getting me to go to that third ball!"

I huddled up in a ball on my bed and shuddered. Azmaria sat down next to me and patted my arm comfortingly.

"Now, Rosette," she began in a soothing, comforting voice, "I realize what a traumatizing experience that must've been for you, and I promise-"

"_Traumatizing!_" I shuddered. "I've been branded for life!"

A basic rundown of what had happened last night after the switch-back: Some creepy guy who was probably well into his forties came up to me and said a bunch of stuff along the lines of "marry me and I'll give you all the food and gold and jewelry and stuff you could want". I refused, obviously. Well, the food part was kind of tempting, but I refused. Then he asked if we could go out on a balcony. I accepted out of politeness, and then once we were out of everyone's view, he grabbed my face and did his best to cover it in slobber, which I guess was his attempt at making out.

Fortunately for me, he got my hand instead. And then I'd screamed bloody murder and started kneeing him between the legs and kicking him and stepping on him with my very pointy and painful high-heeled shoes.

He probably wouldn't be back.

Like, _ever._

"At least it was only one guy for you," Joshua muttered. "Try having thirty girls try to throw themselves onto you at once."

I gave him an exasperated look. "I _have._"

"Oh." He shrugged. "Bad luck for you, then, I guess."

I felt tempted to kick him right then and there and give him a taste of what the middle-aged man had gone through. Azmaria's next words knocked that thought out of my mind.

"Find, then, don't go. Chrona will be really disappointed, though."

I froze. "Huh?"

Azmaria hid a smile behind her hand, disguising it as a yawn. "Chrona, remember? She'll probably come tomorrow, and won't she be disappointed when you're not there? Or when Joshua's there as you and he's acting all weird around hi- her for some reason?"

I grumbled. I pouted. I crossed my arms and glared like a little kid. It made no difference.

"Fine," I mumbled. "I'll go."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Okay, that took me, what, three months? Ah, well, I'm kind of proud of it. (Not too sure about the neanderthal part, though...but whatevs. If nothing else, hopefully my awful writing was at least somewhat humorous.) And if there are any spelling mistakes, then I'm sorry, but this computer's being super-slow for some reason, so sometimes when I'm typing it comes out wrong and I can't even tell because of how long it takes to load...

Yeah, never mind. If anything's the matter with it, go right ahead and flame at me. On that note, you should review if there's anything good about it. Deal?

So, yeah, review, rate, comment, follow, favorite, and all that stuff if you want to. And thanks a bunch to those who do!


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **Okay, yeah, here's the next chapter - and I'm going to try to add more Aion stuff. Because I just feel like I've kinda been neglecting him.

And without further ado - voila! I present to you chapter 10!

* * *

><p><strong>CHRONO<strong>

"Hey, Chrono, when are you making dinner?"

Aion lounged on the couch surrounded by all his gang members, and when I walked into the living room, they all turned and simultaneously shot me a glare. I gulped and hurried into the kitchen.

"Right away."

I began to pull random ingredients from the fridge and cupboards, planning on throwing them together into a pot or pan and either boiling them or frying them together to make some barely-edible food (the typical meal in the Daemon household) when Aion called out, "Actually, on second thought, don't bother, Chrono. We've decided to go to the ball tonight."

I froze, turnips halfway out of the fridge.

"I heard they're serving food there," Aion continued, with a malicious note in his voice. He was torturing me, and enjoying it. Typical.

"And the prince and princess will be there, too, I've heard. Have you ever met them before, Chrono? Oh, right, you're going to the ball too, aren't you? Well, we'll be sure to meet you there, brother dear!"

"Ooh, I bet Chrono looks so _cute _in a dress!" Shader squealed. "Hey, Aion, do you think the princess would let me bring one of my kitties with me? Hmmm?"

She rubbed one of her kittens under the chin, purring at it.

"Yoo-hooo! Chrono, I'm here!"

"Looks like your savior is here," Aion called out to me. "Hey, Mary! Want to join us at the ball tonight? We're all going!"

He didn't seem to surprise her much. If he did, she didn't show it. "Well, I hope you have a _marvelous _time there, flirting and dancing your feet off!" she chirped. "Chrono, I'm going up to your room! Come up whenever you have a moment, would you?"

I debated with myself mentally about who was worse company. Aion and the others, or Mary?

"Chrono, are you going to be wearing make-up? Because I'm _sure _Rizelle has some she could lend to you."

Mary it was.

-0-

"Mary! They're going to _torment _me there!"

"They already do anyways, so what difference does it make?" she demanded. She pulled another gown from her suitcase and held it up to my body, frowning. "Not this one either," she muttered. "Chrono, I _hate _your hair and complexion! It's impossible to find a good fabric and color that suits you well!"

I sighed. Once again, she wasn't really listening to me.

Oh, well. I'd just try my very best to avoid Aion and his gang there. Should be easy enough - they'd all be dressed up in some sort of gothic attire, and they'd be in a group, so it would be a piece of cake to stay away from them - right?

_If only._

**ROSETTE**

It was the third ball - which, thankfully, meant that it was the last. Neither me nor Joshua would have to suffer through this same-sex flirting anymore.

And boy oh boy, was it torturesome.

"So, Joey, I hear that you like archery and riding." One girl - Cornelia? Cordelia? All these girls' names sounded identical to me - lowered her head and fluttered her eyelashes at me. "Maybe you could take me with you someday. I have a mare of her own, a beautiful dappled gray. I named her Lady. Would you like to meet her?"

Inwardly, I groaned. On the outside, though, I was careful to hide every bit of my disgust behind a sunny smile. "I wish I could, Cordelia - is it Cordelia?"

Her smile faltered for an instant. "Cornelia. But you can call me Corrie."

_Corrie. _Some other girl I'd met, Anastasia something-or-the-other, had insisted I call her Annie. Another girl, Elizabeth, had told me her nickname was Ellie. Couldn't these girls come up with more imaginative nicknames? Say, Zabe for Elizabeth and Nellie for Cornelia? And maybe Chrona could be a nickname for Corona or something like that...?

_Rosette. No-no to Chrona-thoughts. Focus on the girls in front of you. Don't let down your brother's reputation!_

"All right... Corrie. I wish I could, but I've got a bunch of princely work I have to do that keeps me really busy, you see? I just haven't got the time." I winked at her as though we shared some kind of secret. Even though I had to fight the instinct to gag, it worked: She instantly squealed, blushed a respectable baby pink instead of the fire-hydrant red I was so much more used to, thanks to the amount of time I'd been spending with a certain _somebody _recently, and backed off with a sort of triumphant smile on her face.

She was instantly replaced by another look-alike.

I couldn't take any more of it.

"I'm sorry," I told her as I got up from my throne. (Not my idea. The servants'. Honestly, we gave them too much free rein around this place.) "Can I go talk to my br- sister for a while?"

The girls all nodded in understanding and cleared a path for me to reach Joshua, who was in a similar situation - except he, of course, was being wooed by young men.

It looked even worse than my situation.

"Such a _pretty _thing you are," one man said with a suggestively raised eyebrow. (It made him look like he was constipated. Seriously. What did girls find attractive in these men?) "You look so thin and slender... If you ever get in trouble, you won't have to worry a bit. I'll come to your rescue as your knight in shining armour." He winked and leaned over to kiss Joshua's hand.

The look on my brother's face...

_Priceless._

I couldn't just stand by and watch as he had a nervous breakdown, though - in spite of my love of torturing him, he was still my brother - so I shoved my way through the crowd and grabbed Joshua's hands, pulling him upright. The look of relief on his face couldn't even be described with words.

Neither could the rage on the face of the "knight in shining armour."

"Who do you think you are?" he growled as he got up from his kneeling position on the ground. He seemed like he'd been about to serenade the "princess" with poorly-written poems about "her" elegance, beauty, et cetera, et cetera... Well, he'd be easy enough to handle. I'd been looking for an outlet to let out my anger anyhow. This would do quite nicely.

"I'm the _prince, _you mindless faggoty worm," I snarled, getting right up into his face as only men did to each other, "and I am Princess Rosette's brother. Would you mind explaining to me why you were _assaulting my sister _in public for the whole world to see? Look at her! Whatever you did to her, it must've been horrible! She's almost on the verge of tears!"

Joshua shot me a disgusted look. He didn't approve one whit of what I was doing, and he was making sure I knew it. He must've been more desparate than I'd thought, though, because he obligingly burst into tears just as he was supposed to.

"He... He was telling me about how he wanted to get me alone and...what he'd do to me there..." Joshua sniffled. I felt both pride and disgust. First off, I wasn't that kind of weakling - who on earth would believe he was actually me? Clearly, everyone would, and that brought me to my second point - Joshua was an _amazing _actor. I made a mental note to hire him off to some acting troupe later to make some extra cash. You never knew what you needed to buy, after all, and I didn't get a very large allowance despite my royal blood.

"It's okay," I fake-soothed. I shot a final glare at the dumbly blinking guy who'd just previously been blathering about "oh, the lovely Princess Rosette, how soothing and peaceful her voice doth seem, and the sheen of her rich blue eyes do outshine even the sky"...

There was a reason I hated poetry.

This was it.

I brought Joshua over to the dining hall, where he continued to fake-cry while simultaneously hissing at me, "Jesus, even Azmaria's better than them!"

"Of course she is," I said, unperturbed. "She always acts so nice and gentle and stuff when you two are being lovey-dovey."

He instantly turned pink. "H-Hey!" he stammered. "We do _not _act lovey-dovey!"

"Oh, but you do," I replied, enjoying myself immensely. "You know, when you guys are in the kitchen and sharing an ice cream sundae..."

"That was once, and only because the chief was begging me to try out his new ice cream recipe."

"And that time you swam together at the beach-"

"She started that, and it was a water fight, not love-bird stuff!"

"-and, of course, let's not forget that time you were out for a walk together at midnight and the little incident at the fountain."

"_Wait, you saw that?"_

_"Wait! Y-You were there?"_

The two of us turned to face Azmaria, who was now an almost identical shade of red as Joshua. "Th-That was private!" she stammered. "Y-Y-You..."

"I never reveal my secrets." Just to fluster them both a bit more, I gave them a little secretive wink and added, "I know about all the other stuff, too."

They both looked away and blushed even more, if that was even possible.

"Well, I'm going back to flirting with girls," I said to them with a devilish smirk on my face. It wasn't often that I got to get the upper hand with Azmaria, not when she wasn't being lovey-dovey anyway, so I made sure to treasure every opportunity. "Do you two want some privacy? I'm pretty sure a guest room is open..."

If we'd been in a bedroom, they would've both thrown pillows at me.

Grinning, I got up and left, leaving the two flustered love-birds sitting next to them in what seemed like a normal situation to outsides, but really was the most awkward situation ever.

**CHRONO**

"Mary, why do all the carriages you hire for me always look like some sort of vegetable?"

"Well, duh, the driver's a vegetable carrier!" Mary replied, with a kind of _how obvious is that? _tone in her voice. "Now, go and break some hearts! I want a full update on your situation with the princeeeehh..._prince _when you get back, all right?"

I rolled my eyes at her. "Sure, I'll give you an update on my situation with the _prince-eeehh, _but there's not much of a situation to update on. We're just friends."

She smiled knowingly.

"What? It's true!"

She shook her head. "Boy, you are in _such _denial. Well, hurry along now, and try not to run into Aion's gang!"

Oh, drat. I'd completely forgotten about them. And what exactly did she mean by "you are in such denial"?

Before I could turn and ask her, though, the orange, pumpkin-shaped carriage was off and running, and it didn't take long for Mary to fade into the distance.

In a few minutes, I arrived at the palace. I waved goodbye to the carriage driver as he drove away - he made quite a sight, a neon-orange carriage amidst all the delicate, lady-like blues and purples of the other carriages - and then turned to walk up the stairs.

The first thing I saw was a throne smack-dab in the middle of the dance floor.

The second thing I saw was Joshua merrily whistling and pushing the other throne to join its partner.

_...the heck?_

"Hey, Joshua!" I called out as I pushed and shoved my way through a buggy-eyed crowd of girls. It didn't take long to reach him - whenever I laid a finger on one of the girls, she instantly crumpled as though I'd dropped a ton of bricks on her. How weak were they, anyways?

He noticed me and gave me a smile. "Hey, Chrona! Lend me a hand, would you?"

I sighed, but helped him out anyway. As we pushed and shoved, I grunted, "So...what's up...with...the thrones?"

"The servants," he said cheerily, not the slightest bit out of breath. "They decided that since today is me and my sister's birthday, they'd celebrate it with a bit of fancying-up - you know, a tiara for her, a crown for me - but we both took them off a while ago - and then thrones for us to sit in, stuff like that..."

"Yeah, but what's with the thrones _in the middle of the dance floor?_"

"Oh." He shrugged. "They're not going to be used anymore, so I figured, why not put them where they'll be of _some _use? You know, bothering lovestruck dancers and stuff?"

One last shove and the thrones were in place. "There," he said in satisfaction. Done. Hopefully now, there won't be any more girls-"

"Prince Joshua!"

Suddenly, I was buried under a torrent of girls rushing forward to grab Joshua's arm. What happened to the weak girls that had tumbled at a single touch?

"Dance with me, please, Jo-Jo dear!"

"Dear Joey, would you care for a dance?"

"Joshy! Joshy, dance with me! I am the best in the kingdom, everyone knows it! Would you like a sample of my talents?"

I finally made my way out of the gaggle of girls who were almost suffocating Joshua under their weight. "You okay?" I called out to him.

He shot me a grimace and jerked his head to the side. "Later!" he shouted back. Then he turned to the first girl and, with a pained smile on his face, said, "I'll be happy to dance with you! Please wait your turn, all right? There are many other girls who are all just as eager for a dance as you are."

The girl pouted but backed off, only for another girl to replace her.

I recognized my cue to leave and quickly scurried off to the dining hall.

Well. What was I supposed to do now?

"Hey, Chrona! Where's my brother? Flirting with girls again?"

For some reason, Rosette laughed, as if this were immensely funny. "Azmaria's over by the balconies, if you want to talk to her. I've got some flirting of my own to do - you know, manners and all... See you later, okay?"

I nodded, and she vanished as quickly as she'd come. It amazed me how different Joshua and Rosette were: Joshua was wild and funny, and Rosette seemed more...reserved and polite.

Well, with nothing better to do, why not go talk to Azmaria? I sighed and walked back into the ballroom. The balconies were over on the left, right next to the entrance stairwell. Joshua was in the middle of dancing with some black-haired girl and maintaining a polite, interested expression on her face. After a bit of searching, I saw Azmaria on the left-most balcony, talking to somebody.

I looked again.

She was talking to Aion.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Jeez, that seems like an awful chapter, but I'm still a little proud of how often I'm updating. How long was it - two weeks or so? Better than the three months that I used to take.

And the story's almost done! Three, four, maybe five more chapters and the fanfic will be done at last!


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** For reasons unknown to me, I am experiencing some pretty strong writer's block (but then again, don't I pretty much always have writer's block?) so I'm basically forcing myself to update now. Yay! And I'm starting to believe that I am EXTREMELY paranoid (accurate self-diagnosis), I'm horrified at the thought of graduation because I'll be all alone in a new, unfamiliar school, plus I'm going to have to wear a DRESS to grad, school has me bored to death and I need to make an MLP plushie of Rainbow Dash for my secret santa gift, while spending only five dollars on supplies and making it look good in spite of my total lack of sewing skills. AND I'm freezing to death - damn these Canadian winters.

My December's going great so far! What about you guys?

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><p><strong>CHRONO<strong>

Aion was leaning against the balcony railing casually, dressed in a slightly cleaner-than-average white suit, surrounded by all his gang. In front of him was Azmaria, dressed in a white-and-pink gown that looked to be at least ten times as frilly and lacey as mine, smiling and gesturing with her hands as she chatted with my brother.

I darted to the side just as Aion turned in my direction. He scanned the crowd as I cowered behind a potted plant, praying that he wouldn't see me. If he noticed me, he didn't show it; he just turned back to Azmaria and smiled at something that she'd said. I shivered. His smile... Have you ever seen a snake smile? That was a bit like how he looked.

"Psst! Azmaria, come over here!"

She didn't hear me; she just continued to avidly talk to Aion. She turned toward Shader - who was carrying a few of her kittens with her, just like always - and they laughed together, looking every inch like they'd been best friends since childhood.

"Psst! Azmaria! _Aaazzy!"_

Her eyes widened and she quickly jerked her head in my direction. I poked my head out from behind the tree a bit more and waved at her frantically. _Here, here, here!_

She blinked at me, then quickly mouthed, _Wait a sec._

I watched on helplessly as she continued to chat with Shader. The cat-girl was almost a full head taller than poor Azzy, but the albino girl didn't show it. She waved goodbye and left in spite of all of Aion's protests - that's what I guessed they were, anyway - and then, after looking back to make sure she wasn't being watched, walked over and joined me behind the fern.

"You should've just come over, Chrona," she scolded gently. "I don't mind if you interrupt me when I'm talking to other people - you're a friend!"

I laughed nervously and scratched my head, thanking the gods for giving me such a good excuse. "Uh... Yeah, sorry about that..."

I sure as heck wasn't about to tell her that Aion was my brother, and, friends or not, I was _definitely_ not planning on telling her that I was really a boy.

"I... I guess that I'm still not really comfortable in big crowds like this..."

She gave me a funny look. "Come on, Chrona." She grabbed my hand and dragged me, flustered and protesting, to a balcony that was all but hidden by miniature palms and thick ferns. For such a small, fragile-looking girl, she was surprisingly strong, and I made a mental note not to underestimate her ever again.

"Azmaria! What are you..."

She grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me in close. "Listen," she said softly. "I know you're really a boy."

I froze.

She continued, seemingly oblivious to my horror. "I won't ask you about your motives, out of respect for personal privacy, but you can tell me if you want. Personally, I don't really mind, since everyone has their quirks..." She paused and blushed. "Well, everyone has something weird about them, myself included."

"H..How'd you find out?"

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that," she quickly reassured me. "I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one who found out about it. Ros- The twins are too blind to these types of things, although..."

Again, she paused, and this time a little smirk came onto her face. "Oh, the irony!" she said aloud to herself with a little chuckle. "I couldn't have planned this better myself!"

I wasn't really listening to what she was saying. "Promise not to tell anyone!" I said anxiously. "Especially..."

I fell silent, but she understood what I was saying anyway.

"I won't say anything to Joshua. And, Chrona..."

"What?"

She gave me a mischievous smile. "Don't worry about the whole 'he's-a-guy-too' thing. If you like him, then go for it."

**ROSETTE**

Finally! I was _done_ with those girls! I dashed into the dining hall and fervently searched for the tell-tale flash of purple hair. Not here - she wasn't in the ballroom dancing, either, although I wasn't too surprised by that. I started searching the balconies, occasionally looking back at poor Joshua, who was still being flirted with by hopeful men - I'm not joking when I say some of them had gray hair - and snickering at him. Eventually, I poked my head around a potted fern and spotted Chrona.

She was talking to Azmaria.

I watched them chat for a few minutes. Azmaria was holding onto Chrona's shoulders and saying something while Chrona looked down with an adorable blush on her face. I wasn't even going to make myself stop thinking things like that anymore; after all, she _was_ really pretty. What was the point of trying to deny that?

"Hey, guys!" I chirped, jumping out from behind the plant and smirking at Chrona's squeak of surprise. Her face had reddened even more, if that was even possible.

"Joshua! I was just leaving," Azmaria said, turning and winking at Chrona before brushing past me. As she walked by, she turned her head ever so slightly and whispered in my ear:

_Go for it._

Huh? I stood there for a minute or two, dumbfounded. Go for what?

"H-Hey, Joshua," Chrona stammered. "Uh... Do you want to go get some food?"

I grinned. "Sure! Let's go together!"

I grabbed onto her arm and tugged her over to the dining hall. She kept looking around for some reason, with a half-panicked look on her face. What had her so frightened? I wondered. Maybe it was all the guys. Some of them were really scary-looking. There was even a guy in the corner with bleached, pure-white hair, a trench coat, and his own personal harem of girls _and_ boys. One of the girls was even carrying a cat. _Creepy._

"Here." I passed Chrona a plate and grabbed three for myself, then started to pile them up with food. Chrona barely looked at the food, instead just glancing around, still searching for _something_. I dumped a mountain of mashed potatoes onto my plate and looked over at her with concern. "Hey, you okay?"

"Huh?" She jumped and blushed again. "Oh... Yeah... Mostly. Yes. Totally. Completely. I mean-"

"You're fine as long as you're with me," I told her as I pried the legs off a turkey and dropped them on top of my potatoes. "No guys are going to try to hit on you as long as you're with me. I kind of, um..." I grinned evilly. "Frightened them away already."

"Oh. Okay." She sounded somewhat skeptical, but finally relaxed and began searching the dining table for appetizing food. "Have you guys got any quail eggs?"

I pointed down the hall. "Right that way."

She scampered off, and I took that opportunity to go put my plates down on a table and then fill up five more.

She returned with three quail eggs and a slice of chocolate cake. She put her plate down and sat next to me, with her eyes darting around, still checking for whatever horror she was expecting to find.

I'd just swallowed and opened my mouth to ask her what she was searching for when she bolted upright. "I-I've got to go to the bathroom!" she blurted. "See ya!"

She dashed off - in the opposite direction of the bathroom, I might add - and I sat there wondering whether I'd just been blown off or not.

Minutes later, she returned. "Sorry about that," she said with a nervous laugh. "I just-"

Her eyes widened and she grabbed my arm, hauling me upright. "Let's go dance!" she said with a nervous laugh, and before I could ask her just what the heck was going on, off we went again.

We did that for about three hours. She'd look around for something, then she'd suddenly suggest we go do something else and then drag me off before I could protest. In the span of those three hours, we went dancing four times - each time, she dashed off in the middle of the dance - to the dining hall seven times, over to talk to either Azmaria or Joshua - the _real_ Joshua, that is - at least eleven times and she went off to the bathroom eight times, usually smack dab in the middle of a conversation.

_Is she PMSing or something_? I wondered when she dashed off for the sixth time. _That_ would_ explain why she's acting so weird..._

At eleven fifty-five, she dragged me to the same balcony where she'd been chatting with Azmaria and leaned on the railing, panting for breath. I couldn't blame her for that; I was feeling pretty out-of-breath too.

"What...the heck...was...that...for?" I panted, wiping sweat from my forehead and desperately trying to fill my lungs with air. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to talk when I felt like this, but I had to know. "Is...there...like, an axe...murderer...hiding in...here somewhere that...you know?"

She laughed breathlessly. "I wish," she muttered. "No. It's...my brother. I don't want him to see me like...well, like _this._" She gestured toward her gown, the ribbon tying her hair back, her necklace, her bracelet, and all the finery she was wearing. "It would be embarrassing."

I nodded in partial understanding. "You're a tomboy, and you don't want him to see you wearing all this girly clothing because he'll tease you?" I guessed.

She laughed shortly. "Something like that."

I nodded and walked over to join her on the railing. We spent a minute or two together in silence.

"Chrona-"

"Joshua-"

We stopped and laughed together.

"Okay, you first," she said when she managed to catch her breath again.

"Well..." I scratched my head and smiled, slightly embarrassed. "I just wanted to say... You're a good friend, and... Well, could we meet up together, after this? Or something?"

Then again, if we met up, I'd have to pretend to be a boy again, but if it was to see her again...

I didn't really mind.

"That's just what I wanted to say," she said, laughing again. "Great minds think alike, huh?"

We grinned together. Then we fell silent again.

_What should I say?_ I screamed in my mind. _God, this is so awkward!_

Suddenly, out of nowhere, I saw Azmaria in her mind, leaning down over me with a frown and a finger raised, waving back and forth, clearly reprimanding me.

_What did I say?_ she scolded me. _Go for it!_

Suddenly, I realized what she'd meant and blushed. Instinctively, I turned to Chrona.

She was looking at me, too.

Behind us, the orchestra was playing a slow love ballad. I dimly noted the notes as I slowly leaned in closer to her, and as she lifted her chin, with the slightest hint of redness on her cheeks, either from the cold or from embarrassment...

I leaned in a bit closer.

Our lips met.

A small corner of my mind kept nagging me:

_You're a girl! Chrona is a girl! You're both GIRLS! Doesn't this bother you in the slightest?_

_Oh, shut up,_ I thought back to it. _I couldn't care less._

**CHRONO**

I watched Joshua as he stared over the railing, clearly in deep thought. For a brief moment, I thought I saw him blush, but then the thought of that vanished from my mind altogether when he turned to me.

I subconsciously lifted my face to him - _curse my shortness!_ - and, in response, he lowered his head. And then, before I knew it, he was kissing me.

Without even thinking about it, I kissed him back.

It was...nice. Considering that I'd never kissed anyone before, it was hard to decide whether this was a "good" kiss or a "bad" one, but all things considered, I liked it. A _lot._

When he finally pulled away, my face was on fire and the tips of my ears were burning. We stood there are stared at each other, not speaking, not even _needing_ to, for a long time.

All I could think was: _I just kissed a boy._

_And I _liked_ it._

_What's wrong with me?_

Before I could ponder it, my thoughts were interrupted by a loud, obnoxious clanging sound.

**_One._  
><strong>

**_Two._**

**_Three._**

Slowly, it dawned on me.

_It's midnight._

**_Four._**

I turned around, picked up my skirts, and ran.

I could hear Joshua calling out my name in confusion. I ignored him and ran.

_**Five.**_

_**Six.**_

I pushed past Azmaria and Rosette chatting together. Azmaria reached out and grabbed my sleeve; I shook her off and continued, wincing as a few strands of hair and my sleeve ripped off in her grasp. Mary was _not_ going to be happy about that.

_**Seven.**_

_**Eight.**_

_**Nine.**_

I dashed up the stairs, pushing aside everyone in my way - I heard more than one person mutter "crazy little bitch" as I ran past - and dashed down the steps outside.

_**Ten.**_

_**Eleven.**_

"Get in!" the cab driver called, and I clambered into the carriage, once again wondering at its uncanny resemblance to a pumpkin.

**_Twelve._ **

Thank God.

As the carriage driver whipped the reins and the horses began to whinny and gallop, I collapsed in my seat and pressed my hand hard against my lips.

I could still feel myself blushing.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Okay, that was pretty short - or, well, it wasn't nearly as detailed as it could've been - but I've gotten impatient to finish this. I've got SOOO many other stories that I want to hurry up and finish already, but I've already decided that I'm going to go through them one by one so as to avoid making any enthusiastic readers unhappy. (Not that I've got many stories up yet, anyway - or all too many enthusiastic readers. Still...)

I'm pretty sure the kiss scene sucked. Did the kiss scene suck? Because I think that the kiss scene sucked. If any of you agree with me, feel free to tell me so, because I _seriously_ think I need to work on my kiss scenes - not that I'll have many more in any of my fanfictions, I don't think. Still, just in case...

So, yeah. One or two more chapters, tops! And then I'm AA-ALL DONE!


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Yay, last chapter, I think! If it's not last, then it's second-last, and that's close enough.

I didn't leave you guys a cliffie with the last chapter, did I? I don't _think_ that was a cliffhanger. It didn't _seem_ like a cliffhanger to me. If it _was_ a cliffhanger, then I apologize sincerely. I'm hoping I can get this up before the end of the winter break. For the sake of all you readers who consider the ending of the last chapter to be a cliffhanger, I'm going to try my absolute best to get this up by then.

* * *

><p><strong>ROSETTE<strong>

"She-she just ran off! _Ran! Off!_ Did I mention that she _ran?_"

Azmaria sat and patiently waited as I finished ranting and collapsed on my bed.

Last night had been... Well. Confusing, to say the least. First there was the whole flirting-with-other-girls thing. And then I exhausted myself pushing the thrones in the center of the ballroom floor to disrupt the dancers. I snickered at the memory, and then sobered immediately as I remembered what had happened next.

Chrona had come along.

I'd planned to join her as soon as I was done with the damn thrones, but then _girls_ had glomped me and I had to dance with them so that they wouldn't burst out in tears and get Azzy to come after me with a chainsaw. And then when I'd finally gotten away from them, Chrona had been chatting with Azmaria, and then when she'd joined me, she was pulling me all over the place so we didn't really get a chance to talk - actually _talk_ - until the balcony.

And then there was the kiss.

And then midnight came.

And then she ran.

"She just...ran!" I burst out. "Without even telling me - well, for starters, without telling me where she lived!"

"You could just go out and search for her," Azmaria suggested in a carefully composed voice. She toyed with the necklaces in my jewelry box to give herself something to do - I knew that she wasn't _really_ interested in my stuff because if she was, Joshua would've already stolen it from me to give to her. _Lovebirds._

I rolled over and buried my face in a pillow. I-kissed-Chrona! I still couldn't quite get over that fact.

"I miss her!" I wailed. "We were best friends for three nights and now she's gone! Just - _gone!_"

"I _said,_" Azmaria said, this time with narrowed eyes and a hint of frustration in her voice, "that you could go out and search for her. You are the _princess_, after all. Just say that you found your true love and you're looking for her. Or ask your brother to. Chrona would reveal herself more willingly then, I bet."

"But...but..." I sat up and wailed, "What if she doesn't _like_ me when she finds out I'm a girl? After, that's-that's like - why would she like a _girl?_"

"Rosette."

I gulped. Azmaria sounded angry, and an angry Azmaria was never a good thing.

"Go get your brother. Tell him that you want him to find someone for you. And then go out and _search for Chrona._ If she doesn't like you after she finds out your true gender, then you can deal with that problem _after_ it arises."

She glared at me and pointed to the door. "Go!"

I bolted upright and raced for the door.

Normally, I'd throw a tantrum and disobey her just because, but this time... What if her plan actually worked?

What if I found Chrona again?

**CHRONO**

"Hey, little brother," Aion called from the living room. "I didn't see you at the ball last night. What a pity - I was hoping to have a nice brother-to-brother chat with you there... Or I guess it would've been a brother-to-sister chat, am I right?"

"Ignore him," Mary muttered, threading the needle and deftly tying a figure-eight knot at one end. "He's just trying to make you mad."

_Well, he's succeeding._

"Honestly though, Chrono." Mary began to make small, tight stitches, sewing a new sleeve onto the remainder of the sleeve I'd ripped the night before. "How did you do this? I'm going to have a hell of a hard time covering up the seam!"

"Sorry." I leaned back in my chair and sighed. "Last night was _awful._ Well, most of it was. The only good part was probably..."

_The kiss._

I rolled over and buried my head in my pillow to hide my blush.

"Hey, Mary," I said in an effort to switch the topic. "Why are you mending that by hand? Can't you just take it to a professional seamstress or tailor or something? After all, that would be way easier than sewing it up by hand..."

Mary giggled. "Considering that I spent all my allowance sending _your sorry little bottom_ to the ball, I don't think I can really to have this mended professionally. Besides... I get the feeling that it would be better to do it this way."

"What do you mean by that?"

She smiled. "Oh, I don't know - women's intuition?"

-0-o-0-o-0-

"Chrono! Chrono!"

I moaned and pulled the covers over my head. "Lemme 'lone, Aion," I mumbled, not even looking up to see who the muffled voice belonged to. "Tired. Bread and butter in fridge."

I heard the person mutter something along the lines of "idiot, lazy, stupid" and "don't know why I'm even doing this for him." Moments later, I felt someone pull my blanket off of me.

_"Chro-no! _Wake up! I've got big news for you!"

I rolled over and squinted at Mary. She was standing at the foot of my bed with a determined pout on her face, both hands on her hips and my blanket lying in a wad at her feet. I squinted at the clock on my nightstand: Six forty-eight. AM.

"Whaddya want, Mary? 'S not even seven..."

She huffed, grabbed my legs, and yanked me off the bed. I went down with a crash. "Guess what I found out!"

"Ouch," I groaned. "Was that necessary?"

"The prince and princess are conducting a search!" she exclaimed, completely ignoring me and the concussion that she'd just given me. "Apparently, one of them - the prince, I think - found somebody they really liked at one of their balls, but they don't know where the person lives, and they're going to search for her and invite her to stay with them at the palace!"

"Great." I laborously clambered back into bed and curled up into a ball, burying my head under my pillow. "Have fun."

She screeched in frustration and randomly began to grab items off my desk and hurl them at me. "Ch-ro-no! Get _out_ of _bed!_ It's seven in the morning - they're starting already!"

"Stop throwing things at me, woman!" I shouted. I half-heartedly tossed one of my pens back at her and stood up. There went my hopes of sleeping in. "What does this have to do with _me?_"

Mary beamed. "It had _everything_ to do with you, stupid! The prince and princess are coming over! I can meet them for the first time! And plus, what if it's _you _they're looking for? Didn't you say that it was lonely, not being able to talk to Joshua anymore? Maybe if you-"

"No."

She pouted. "Why not?"

"Because... I don't want them to know I'm a crossdresser."

_Well, I don't want _more_ people to know that I'm a crossdresser,_ I mentally corrected. _After all, Azzy and Mary both know already..._

"I don't care!" Mary declared, crossing her arms and pouting and looking every inch a four-year-old throwing a tantrum. "I'm going to stay here and drag you downstairs once the prince and princess come, and I am going to chat with them and you are going to come with me, and if they even have the _faintest idea_ that you look familiar then I am going to tell them that you are really Chrona!"

"What if they don't recognize me?"

She huffed. "Well, then I'd say that they're not deserving of your company but really, Chrono, do you really think that will happen?"

Yes. No. Maybe. I hope so. I hope _not._

At an utter loss for words, I climbed back into bed. "Too tired for this," I mumbled, my voice muffled from the pillow I was shoving in my face. "Wake me up in three hours, and then we'll talk."

She growled and pulled me off the bed again. "Chrono! Get _up!_ I need your opinion on dresses and makeup! And hair, too, while you're at it!"

I ignored her.

**ROSETTE**

"This was a horrible idea," I muttered to my brother. I folded my hands in my lap and fought the urge to scratch at the pins that were poking their way into my skull. And the dress! Don't even get me started on the dress. All starch and silk and mesh and stiff frills - it was hard to believe that any girl would _voluntarily_ subject themselves to this torture!

Or it might've just been that my dressmakers had a grudge against me, because I would never sit still for any of my fittings.

"We're never going to find her!" I hissed. "There are - what, twenty million people in the kingdom? That's about five _million_ houses to search through! And-"

"We're only going to be looking at a two hundred houses, max." Azmaria sighed for the fifteenth time and launched into her explanation for the fifteenth time. "We only issued an invitation to the ball to the two hundred families that live closest to the palace. Many of them declined, so we're not even going to be visiting two hundred homes - chances are, we'll only go to a hundred fifty."

"Right, because a hundred fifty is _sooo_ much better than two hundred."

"You were the one who told us to go ahead with it, Rosette," Joshua grumbled. "Don't think that you're not the only one suffering because of your stupidity."

"Hey!" I yelped. "I'm not stupid!"

Joshua and Azzy exchanged a look. I fumed.

"What? I'm _not!_"

Joshua sighed and patted my shoulder. "If you say so, sis. If you say so."

I was ready to jump on him and tear him to pieces when the driver announced, "We've arrived at our first destination!"

I settled for shooting him a glare and daintily (or as daintily as I could) accepted the footman's hand as I stepped down from the carriage. Azmaria and Joshua followed close behind, and together, we gaped at the mansion looming above us.

"I think it's bigger than the royal palace," Azmaria said at last, for once without tact. "How on earth did they build this monstrous, useless thing?"

I wondered that too, especially considering that - according to the driver - there were all of two people living in their, along with five maids, a cook, and a butler.

"He-_lloooooo,_ Prince Joshua!" the girl - "Miss Duchess Heiress Jordannia of Ricness Household", according to the long, long list we'd looked over before leaving - cried out as she ran delicately down the stairs. "Welcome to my humble abode!"

I saw Joshua wince, and I couldn't help but agree. "My humble abode"?

This was going to be a very long day.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Bit of an abrupt ending in my opinion, and also not one of my best bits of writing, but I had to stop eventually - otherwise it would've taken me another month to get this posted. But, yaay! I got it updated. And I found a ton of amazing fanfictions to read. And I found a bunch of amazing published books to read. 2013 is going pretty well for me so far!


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: **Okay. I'm 99.99999999999 all the way down to the trillionth place percent certain that THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER. Not too sure whether I'm happy about that or sad. Probably happy, because that means that I get to finish all my other fanfics now. WHOOT!

So, here's the (probably almost definitely last) chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>ROSETTE<strong>

"...and this is the gown I wore to the second ball!"

The girl smiled flirtatiously and spun around, holding her pink-and-silver dress to her chest so that we could see what she would look like with it on. "And with it - ooh, I should show you the jewelry, too - I wore these strapless heels..."

I sighed. Joshua smiled politely and hid his yawn behind his hand. Azmaria discreetly checked her pocketwatch for the umpteenth time.

"I am so sorry," she suddenly said, standing up and hiding her watch in the folds of her skirt, "but we have to leave now. I'm afraid we have many more homes to visit, but it was a pleasure meeting you, Miss..."

"Rosie Annabella Isolde Halley Millhem," the girl automatically said.

"Miss Rosie Annabella Isolde Halley Millhem," Azmaria repeated with a slightly pained smile. "If we could just take our leave now..."

She not-so-discreetly stepped on Joshua's boot, and Joshua yelped. I pinched him hard, and he yelped again.

"Uh-uh-right!" he stammered, shooting me a glare that said _I'll get you back for that later._ "It was a pleasure meeting you, Rosie, but the three of us have to go. Thank you, again, for having us over."

"No problem at all!" She beamed and sidled a bit closer to my brother. "Of course, feel free to come back whenever you like, Prince Joshua. I'm sure we'd have a _lovely_ time getting to know each other..."

I grabbed Azmaria's hand and dragged her outside before she could pounce on poor Miss Rosie-etc. and tear her gown to shreds. "It's just flirting, Azzy," I said to calm her down. "One-sided flirting. Joshua still likes you, remember? All this stuff is just an act; please don't go and kill that girl, I'd hate to have to lock my best friend up in prison..."

I was actually really tempted to go and beat the girl up myself. Of course, if I did that, Azmaria would leap in and join me, and very possibly Joshua too, so whenever we were in one of these one-sided-flirting situations where either Joshua or Azmaria were the ones being flirted with, _I _had to be the calm, level-headed one and make sure everyone got home in one piece. _Me. _Be _calm. _And _level-headed._

_Every. Single. Time._

And to make matters worse, we _still_ hadn't found Chrona.

"All right, you two," Joshua panted as he climbed into the carriage and slammed the door shut behind him. "Next house is the last one. I swear to god, these girls..."

"Well, luckily, there only _is_ one house left anyway," Azmaria commented as she checked her list. I stared at her. Gone were any signs of her earlier frustration and rage. Gone was the red face; her hair and gown were just as perfect as always.

_I'm never going to get used to that._

"So..." I leaned over Azzy's shoulder. "Are we going to this Aion person's house now?"

"Yep." Azzy frowned down at the name. "Where have I heard the name Aion before? I swear, it sounds so familiar..."

"Does it matter?" I glanced down at my watch and stifled a yawn. "The sooner we get back and in bed, the better!"

-0-o-0-o-0-

After a few minutes of travel, we finally arrived at the last house in a long, exhausting line. This one looked pretty average, if not a bit run-down and messy. There was a battered-up car in the driveway that looked a couple of decades old, the paint on the door was peeling, half of the shingles on the roof had disappeared, and the lawn was less of a lawn and more like a weed infestation, but it looked like a family of five or six could live in it pretty comfortably, so long as the inside of the house wasn't quite as messy as the out.

The biggest difference between this place and the others we'd been to, though, was this:

Nobody came out to greet us.

We stood outside for a few minutes awkwardly, wondering whether or not this was the right address.

"Are you sure these people came, Azzy?" I whispered into her ear. "It seems unnaturally...quiet."

"Oh, shush," she whispered back. "They're probably just shy."

A few minutes later, a girl came running out of the door.

"I'm so sorry!" she gasped, looking absolutely mortified. "But - well, this isn't my house, my cousins live here, and they were being absolutely _horrid._ I'm so very, very sorry for making you wait, but my _cousin"-_she turned her head and yelled out the word, presumably so that this "cousin" of hers would hear-"was being _stubborn_ and didn't want to come greet you himself, and my _other _cousin didn't want you to come in at _all._"

"It's all right," Azmaria replied with a smile. "I suppose it's all right for us to go in now?"

The girl nodded her head vigorously. "Oh, yes, definitely!" She smoothed back her long, white-blond hair and smiled at us. Somehow, the merry twinkle in her crystalline blue eyes reminded me of Azmaria. I doubt that was a good thing. "My name's Mary Magdalene. I'll introduce the rest of the family once we get inside."

She turned on her heel, leaving us to follow her as she marched up the gravelly driveway. She held the door open for us, and I winced at the creaking sound it made when she opened it. That door hadn't been oiled in years, if ever at all. And that wasn't the worst part. The living room had dirty clothes strewn all over the place - on the floor, over the TV, on the sofa, except for where the people sat. Judging by the few empty spots on the floor, some effort had been made in cleaning them up, but definitely not enough, and to top it all off, _everything_ was coated in cat fur. One of the women, a brunette with glasses and a bob cut, sat in the love seat, cuddling five of them up against her chest. Normally, I would've thought that _that _was odd enough, but one of the other woman had a giant, hairy tarantula crawling on her hand, the third lady was wearing a freaking _maid_ uniform, an enormous huge and silent boulder-like guy, another person who looked halfway crazy, and then finally - the one who somehow emanated an aura of a leader - a tanned guy with glasses, white hair pulled back in a ponytail, and a trench coat.

All in all, they seemed like a band of freaks.

"That guy"-Mary pointed at the blondie-"is my cousin, Aion, who owns this house. He turned eighteen less than six months ago. Nobody else here is related, except for the _stupid, stubborn, idiotic guy upstairs!_" she yelled at the ceiling.

I heard a muffled _eep_ and a thud. Mary nodded in satisfaction. "He'll be down shortly."

Sure enough, less than a minute later, a short boy sulked down the stairs. Curiously enough, he had a baseball cap on _under_ his hoodie, which had the hood pulled up almost to the point of covering his entire cap. "Sorry, Mary," he muttered. Mary smiled angelically at him.

"Oh, it's all right, _Chrono,_" she cooed, almost as sweetly as Azmaria would in that type of scenario. I was beginning to wonder if the two of them were exactly the same. "Just make sure you come down when I tell you to next time. _Okay?"_

I don't know about the kid, but I gulped. This girl was _scary_ - scarier than Azmaria, maybe.

Scary enough for me to entirely forget what the newcomer's name was.

"Hello, Aion." Azmaria smiled politely and stepped forward toward the blondie. "Remember me? We talked together during the third ball."

Aion leaned back and peered at her from under her glasses. "Ah, yes, I remember," he drawled. "We talked about my brother."

"Yes." Azmaria turned and extender her hand out to the younger boy. After some time, he tentatively reached out and shook it. For a brief moment, I thought that I saw her wink at him, but it must've just been my imagination.

"So, did any of you women attend the three balls?" she inquired. "My friend Joshua here is searching for a friend of his called Chrona, and we were thinking that one of you might be her, although..."

"None of you really look like her," I supplied. Meanwhile, Aion's grin had grown.

"A _girl_ named _Chrona_. Can't say I know _her,_" he said. The boy - I _still_ couldn't remember what his name was - jumped a bit and turned around, ready to dash up the stairs. Mary held him in place.

"No, we don't know anybody named Chrona," she managed to say as she engaged in a miniature tug-of-war with her shorter cousin. "No help to you guys there."

"Oh." I sighed. "It was too much to hope for, I guess."

I felt both relieved and disappointed at the same time. Disappointed because, of course, I hadn't found Chrona, but relieved because I'd finally be able to get home. Before I could leave, though, Azmaria spoke up.

"If you don't know anybody named Chrona, then do you know what gown this belongs to?" And with a flourish, she pulled a scrap of blue fabric and purple strings out from behind her back.

Upon closer inspection, it proved to be half of a sleeve and a few strands of purple hair. Azzy noticed my questioning look and explained, "I grabbed these off of Chrona while she ran by us last night. You know, just in case."

I shook my head in amazement. "Azzy...you really are something."

Of course, that didn't explain why she'd decided not to take it out during any of our other visits, but that was explainable enough: All the other girls had absolutely zero possibility of being Chrona. Here, at least, we had a slight chance.

Mary picked up the sleeve, completely ignoring the hairs that Azmaria had wrapped inside. She looked it over carefully. "I think I might - one of my gowns is ripped and missing a sleeve... Chrono, would you go fetch it for me?"

"I'm not a dog," the boy said with some irritation, but he turned and ran up the stairs anyway. It took me a moment to register that name in my mind.

_Chrono._

Chrona, Chrono - they sounded really alike. It was probably just a coincidence, though. Right...?

It only took him a few minutes to come barreling down the stairs again, this time loaded with an armful of fabric. He kept his eyes down as he handed the strangely familiar gown over to Azmaria, but that wasn't what caught my attention. What I was interested in was the handful of hairs that now poked out from under his hood, thanks to his run up and down the stairs. They looked strangely...purple.

Before I could lose my nerve, I reached out and yanked his cap off. All his long, purple hair went streaming down his back, and he looked up at me in surprise.

Red eyes.

Long, purple hair, red eyes, shortness, a slim build - from what I could tell, anyway - tanned skin and that familiar gown.

This was _Chrona._

**CHRONO**

"I don't want to go down!" I whined, putting all my weight on the door to try to keep Mary from barging in. She pushed back with just as much force. "Come on, Mary, don't make me!"

"Stop being such a baby!" she snapped. "They're waiting for us outside, and I am _not_ going down without the person they're looking for available for them to find!" She tossed something in through the crack in the doorway. "If it bothers you so much, put those on! But you're coming down, like it or not!"

I nearly fell over when she stopped pushing and stormed down the stairs, this time to yell at Aion and his gang and to _please God make that living room look presentable!_ I picked up the wad of fabric. A hoodie, and a baseball cap.

Well. This might just work out after all.

Right after I'd managed to fit all of my hair under the cap and pull the hood on without dislodging the hat, Mary bellowed from downstairs, "_Stupid, stubborn idiotic guy upstairs!_"

I squeaked and fell over with a thud. Fortunately, none of my hair came out from under the cap. I quickly pulled the hood a bit further down over my eyes and hurried down the stairs to Mary's side. "Sorry, Mary," I muttered. She beamed at me.

"Oh, it's all right, Chrono," she cooed. Was it just me, or did she put some extra stress on the word _Chrono?_ "Just make sure you come down when I tell you to next time, o_kay?"_

I didn't need to answer, so I didn't. All I could think about was: _Joshua is here._

I peeked at him from under the bill of my baseball cap. Strangely enough, he didn't look like the Joshua I knew. Maybe it was just because of my brother, or maybe - more likely because of - Mary, but he seemed too... Stiff. And formal.

"...gowns ripped and missing a sleeve. Chrono, would you go fetch it for me?"

I snapped back to reality. I'd missed most of the conversation, but based on the bit that I'd heard, I guessed that Mary wanted me to go get the gown I'd been wearing last night and had ripped. "I'm not a dog," I said, somewhat irritated, but I turned and ran up the stairs anyway, if only so that I'd be able to puzzle out the mystery of the overly-polite Joshua.

When I came back down with the dress in my arms, I still hadn't come any closer to figuring out why he seemed so strangely distant. Even his _sister_ was more lively than he was, which was odd, because I remembered her as the more formal type. It was almost like the two of them had switched personalities - but before I could elaborate on that thought, I felt someone grab my shoulder and yank my cap off. All of my hair, which I'd so carefully tucked up in that hat, came spilling out, and I looked up in shock at the one who'd done that to me.

It was Princess Rosette. But she didn't look like the Rosette I remembered from the balls. She looked like...

She kind of looked like Joshua.

We stared, speechless, at each other for a long, long minute. Then, finally, she broke the silent with an awkward, "Um. Sorry about that."

I flushed bright red, grabbed the cap from her hands and yanked it down over my eyes again. No good; the damage was done.

"Hey, have you been listening to what we were talking about?" she demanded, crouching down to look into my eyes. I blushed harder and looked away, but she just mirrored my movements. "You know, about me and my brother looking for a girl named Chrona? You weren't listening, were you?"

"No, I wasn't," I muttered, but she ignored me and continued to talk.

"Because you look an awful lot like the Chrona we're looking for, and I was wondering if maybe you're her."

"I'm not," I said, slightly more loudly. If Rosette was Joshua and Joshua was Rosette, then that meant...

"Oh, yeah? Then tell me." She leaned in until her lips were right next to my ear and whispered, "_What were we doing right before midnight?"_

I jerked back and stared at her in alarm. She grinned at me, and suddenly I felt like there was no longer any doubt. Only Joshua - _Rosette_ - smiled that way. His - her? - sibling would never smile like that.

"It's all settled~!" she chirped. "Azzy, we've got her - well, _him,_ I guess," she corrected herself. She grinned at me. "What do you say we run away from that demoness of a cousin you've got?"

I considered it for a moment. Getting to know Rosette - not Joshua, I was sure of that now - better, and ditching Mary in the deal, too...

"I'm in."

She winked at me and hitched up her skirts with one hand, then grabbed me with her other one. "Come on, Azzy, Joshy!" she yelled. "We're going back now!"

"What-" Mary blinked. "What? Now?"

"Yep!" Rosette waved at her. "Sorry, there's only enough room in the carriage for four people. Maybe we'll come back for you."

Mary gaped at her. Then she turned to me. "Chrono! You're not going to-"

"Sorry, Mary." I shrugged. "Maybe later."

I turned and followed Rosette out of the door. I'm pretty sure that Joshua and Azmaria were following close behind.

By the time Mary had recovered from her shock enough to run out, we were all loaded in the carriage, which had already begun to roll.

"Chrooono!" she yelled. "You'd better tell me about this later! Got it? As soon as I show up at the palace!"

"You guys aren't going to let her in, are you?" I muttered to them. Even though I'd just realized that the two siblings had been crossdressing, and they, no doubt, had just realized _I'd_ crossdressed, I still perfectly at ease with them.

"No way," Rosette retorted. "_One_ Azmaria's enough."

"Hey!" Azmaria cried. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"You know perfectly well what it means," Rosette said with a laugh. "But anyways, Chrona - I mean, Chrono! Why were _you_ crossdressing? I mean, Joshua and I did it so that I'd actually have _some _fun at the balls, what with them being for my birthday and all, but...what about you?"

I sighed. "It's a long story."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Okay, I'm just going to end it off there, but - holy guacamole! Three thousand words! Not bad, if I do say so myself. And no, I'm not adding another chapter. This fanfic is officially, as of now, com-PLEEETTTEE! Man, do I feel good about myself!

Yes, I'll admit, it does end on a bit of a cliffhanger (or a LOT of a cliffhanger) but if I kept going on, I'd go into their adventures at the palace, and maybe a jealous princess who popped up and tried to hijack everything (aka Satella) and all that stuff, and then this fanfiction would end up a hundred chapters long. As fond as I am of this story, I'm not sure I want to make it that long, and if any amazing plot ideas for a continuation/sequel to this series pop up, I'll publish them on this site, but until then... SUFFER IN MISERY, ALL YOU CHRONOxROSETTE FANS.

Or, better yet, write your own ChronoxRosette/AzzyxJoshua fanfic. Heaven knows this category NEEDS more writers.

So, basically: IT IS COMPLETE! DONE! OVER WITH! AT LAST!

...now I've just got to finish the other twenty or so fanfics that I've got on hiatus on my USB.

Any comments, questions, notes (yes, it's unrealistic for cars, alarm clocks and carriages to be in the same kingdom, but I didn't even notice that mistake until I reread my whole fanfic to figure out what colour I'd putten Chrono's eyes down as, and I _still_ didn't figure it out) or sequel ideas are welcome!


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